Thoughts and Conversations
by madonnamo
Summary: While I love that our "favorite gays" got back together in Season Six, I am saddened that we didn't get much back story. There are so many thoughts and conversations that had to go on to go from hating each other to married. So this is my take on what may have happened to get us from the fight in New York to the wedding. Heavily based around canon. Lots of season 6 canon in story
1. Chapter 1

Thoughts and Conversations

Author's note:

While I loved that our "favorite gays" got back together in Season Six, I am saddened that we didn't get much back story. There are so many thoughts and conversations that had to go on to go from hating each other to married. So this is my take on what may have happened to get us from the fight in New York to the wedding. This story is heavily based around canon and lots of Season 6 canon will show up in this story.

I do not own Glee or any songs or other stories that may be mentioned in this story.

* * *

Blaine Anderson approached Dave's apartment solemnly. A smile ghosted across his face as he thought of singing with Rachel again. _Suddenly Seymour_ was such a fun song to sing. If only it weren't for the reasons that he and Rachel were back in town, it would have been the most fun he had had in ages.

"Hey, babe," Dave said, as he walked through the door.

"Hi," Blaine answered quietly.

"Look...the painters are done with the rainbow wall!" Dave said excitedly. Blaine walked farther into the apartment and glanced at the wall. Personally, Blaine thought the entire apartment was ridiculously over the top. He much preferred the muted tones he and Kurt had chosen for their place in New York. But when Brittany and David had gotten together to decorate Dave's apartment, he just let them go.

"Looks great, Dave," Blaine finally said with as much enthusiasm as he could muster.

"You okay, Babe? You said you liked the idea when we talked it over with Brittany," Dave replied, suddenly unsure of the wall. He really wanted Blaine to move in and he had cleared all design decisions by him.

"No, it's great," Blaine smiled at Dave. After all, while it wasn't his idea of chic decor, he wanted Dave to be happy. In the grand scheme of things, Blaine didn't really care how Dave's apartment looked.

"You okay, Babe?" Dave asked again, cluing in to the fact that Blaine seemed much quieter than usual. He usually came in to the apartment regaling Dave with whatever song the Warblers were currently singing.

"Yeah, I'm good," Blaine replied, clearly still completely preoccupied. He was flashing back to his earlier conversation with Rachel about Kurt. When Dave just continued to look at him, he realized he would have to expound a little. "I ran into Rachel. She's out of seclusion...finally."

"That's good, right? I thought you liked Rachel?" Dave questioned.

"No, it's actually really great. But she had no idea what happened with…" Blaine trailed off, realizing that he could be hurting David by dwelling on his ex.

"With Kurt?" Dave supplied. "You okay, Babe?" he asked for the third time. Dave was the one who helped Blaine get over Kurt and move on. He was there through the worst moments of Blaine's life, and Blaine didn't want to come off as still so upset. It hurt to have to have to rehash all the events again with Rachel, but he wasn't crying his eyes out, so that was definite progress.

"Yeah, no, I'm good. Great, really. And the wall looks really good," Blaine answered with a smile. Dave returned his grin and came over, hugged him, and gave him a kiss on his cheek.

"Great! We should go get dinner, then...I'm starved!" As Dave led Blaine out of the apartment, he talked excitedly about where they might go to eat. Blaine couldn't help but compare how Dave reacted to Blaine's reassurances that he was fine, versus how Kurt would have reacted. Dave seemed more than happy to accept the surface...Blaine said he was fine, so he was. Kurt would have known better. Blaine would have never gotten away with that with Kurt. Kurt would have made him talk.

They had decided to go the Applebee's because Dave loved the little one shot desserts there and Blaine really didn't care. While Dave drove them there in his Ford truck, of which he was exceedingly proud...no Chevy's for this mister...he started talking football, so Blaine was free to let his mind wander, just having to interject a "yep" or an "uh huh" every now and again.

"...and I can't wait for intramural football to start!" Dave droned on as they walked into the restaurant and we're seated by the hostess. Blaine tried again to shake off his melancholia. He was officially being a jerk to David at this point, though Dave didn't really seem to notice. Usually Blaine found Dave's incessant football talk adorable, but right now it was just sort of giving him a headache. The waiter came to take their order. He heard David talking about some game from the nineties and piped in his two cents, while simultaneously winking at Blaine. Blaine was caught between making a face at him for so obviously flirting with him right in front of his boyfriend and doing nothing because being passive about things outside of running the Warblers had become his new M.O. He chose to look out the window and the flirty waiter got the hint and took their orders and slunk away.

"He seemed nice," Dave commented, to which Blaine choked on a piece the ice from his water glass. _How oblivious are you_ , Blaine thought.

"So…" Dave began. Blaine got ready for another football rant, but Dave had something completely different in mind. "Blaine, I think you should move into my apartment. You are there all the time that you aren't at Dalton anyway. We could split expenses so it would be economical and you could be out of your parents' house and have a place to call your own...with me," Dave finished, looking so hopeful.

Blaine was stunned. He really didn't think he was ready for this step. He and Dave hadn't even slept together. Could he take such a step with someone at this point. The answer seemed to be a resounding no, but he didn't want to hurt Dave's feelings.

"Dave," he began with every intention of turning him down really gently.

"Blaine, give it some time and think about it," David said, clearly sensing that he was about to be rejected. "I realize this is a really big decision and I want to give you time to think it over. I got Brittany to help me decorate the place because I know she is a friend of yours and I figured she would know what you like." Blaine had to keep from snorting at that comment.

After giving it a few minutes of deliberation, Blaine replied, "Okay, I will think about it.". That was enough for David to get a big goofy grin on his face and reach across the table and grab Blaine's hand.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N Oh our poor boys! Why did they put themselves through this...and also us? Chapter 2 is Kurt's turn. This story gets pretty sad, before it levels out to happy, which you all know...so that helps.

I do not own Glee or anything really.

* * *

Kurt sat on Rachel's bed in her old house just looking around and running through the scene at Pac's in the rain over and over in his head. When he had arrived at Rachel's house, her dad had taken one look at him and pulled him in for a fierce hug. He said he knew what Kurt was going through and that he completely understood. Kurt took a little solace in the fact that at least his marriage never happened, instead of breaking up after 20+ years. Rachel's dad got Kurt a glass of water and told him that he was pretty sure Rachel would be home soon, so Kurt decided to wait.

"Hey, Rachel," Kurt said quietly, when she finally walked in. So far the tears were just glistening in his eyes, but as she came over to hug him, he finally couldn't hold it at bay anymore and they began to fall. Rachel didn't say a word. She just hugged Kurt and let him cry. When he had quieted, she chastely kissed him on the temple and they turned towards each other on the bed.

Kurt told Rachel about how he had shown up for their six month meeting. It had been raining and how he stood there, the only one who remembered to go. Of course he understood that she wasn't going to make it, and was not at all surprised that Blaine did not come because he had ruined that. But he was hopeful that the others would come. In his heart, he had been hopeful that Blaine would come and they could fix things.

"Well, I was the only one who showed up. And you were clearly in the midst of a breakdown. And...well...Blaine...I blew it. I blew the best thing that ever happened to me."

Rachel asked Kurt if he thought that maybe Kurt was just lonely, but he knew better. He still didn't fully understand what had happened to him, to make him push Blaine away. He explained how his therapist said he had this thing with love, that maybe he doesn't believe that he can end up happy and that he fought with Blaine as a way to stay connected to him.

"Men fight as a way to stay connected but Blaine wasn't like that. He wasn't afraid of intimacy. H-has he said anything?" Kurt stammered out. He could not stand the thought of Blaine suffering even more than it hurt him.

"He seems to be in a good place about it," Rachel answered reluctantly. How was she going to tell Kurt about Dave?

Kurt was so happy to hear that Blaine seemed okay. He asked Rachel to set up a meeting. He had the first glimmer of hope that maybe he could fix this. Rachel asked how he thought he would fix things long distance.

"Maybe it doesn't have to be long distance! Look, I want to be here with you guys. You've got to help me. Maybe we can have our redemption here together," Kurt said hopefully.

Rachel told Kurt she had the perfect idea.

"Kurt, I am taking over New Directions! You should come and do it with me. You can use it as part of your work study program for school," Rachel explained.

"Rach! That sounds amazing! I can't wait to get started. I have to go get things official with NYADA. Let me know where I can meet Blaine. Thanks, Rach!" Kurt replied as he got up to go fix things with school.

"Kurt...about Blaine…" Rachel tried to begin. Kurt looked at her expectantly. "Nothing, I will see if he can meet you."

"I know he may not want to. I am leaving it up to you, Rachel. I know you can make this happen for me," Kurt grabbed his messenger bag and made to head out. "I love you, Rachel. I've missed you so much!"

"I love you too. I will talk to you soon," she replied, mentally kicking herself for not being able to tell her best friend about his ex.

After Kurt left, Rachel immediately called Blaine.

"Hey, Rachel!" Blaine answered happily. He had been so glad that she had visited him at Dalton and he figured she had some more notes for him about the performance.

"Hi," Rachel stammered out trying to figure out how to go about having this conversation.

"What's up?" Blaine asked as he distractedly looked through sheet music for the Warblers. He was sitting in his office at Dalton and his mind was completely preoccupied with all things Warbler.

"Are you sitting down?" Rachel asked him.

"Yeah," he laughed, wondering about the absurdity of her query. He finally clued in to the fact that maybe something was wrong. "What's going on? Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, everything is fine, Blaine," Rachel quickly replied. "But I have something to tell you and I think it is going to take you by surprise. Just trying to figure out how to tell you."

"Rachel, if you are going to tell me that you are coaching New Directions, I already know and I think it's amazing! Schue called me when he found out. I realize we will be rivals, but we can totally do this. Our schools need us," Blaine rambled on.

"Yeah, I am taking over New Directions, that's true," Rachel started in again. Gosh, this was hard. She had no idea how Blaine was going to react and really wished she hadn't been put in this position. Finally she went on, "I am going to have help, Blaine. Kurt's going to co-direct as part of his work study program at NYADA. He's back in Lima." This comment was met with complete silence from the other end of the line. "Blaine? Are you there?"

"Uh, yeah. I'm here." Blaine's heart started racing a mile a minute at the mention of Kurt being in Ohio. He had to remind himself to breathe. How was he expected to deal with this?!

"There's more, Blaine," Rachel went on and Blaine had to force his breath in and out. "He wants to see you. He wants to clear the air," Rachel knew she should tell Blaine everything but she decided not to put herself in the middle of this mess.

"Um...okay," Blaine replied. "I don't know if I can do that, Rach." He had finally gotten his breathing under control and was forcing himself to remain calm. His anger was flaring just under the surface that Kurt would think that he would just be ready to see him.

"It's up to whatever you want, Blaine but you guys are going to see each other. It might be a good idea to just get everything out in the open. I tried to tell him about Karofsky but I couldn't. I just didn't know how. But he has to know," Rachel answered.

"Yeah, you are right," Blaine replied, remembering Dave for the first time in this conversation. Of course he had to tell Kurt about David. It would kill Kurt if he found out from anyone other than him. And no matter how mad at Kurt he was, he didn't actually want to hurt him. "I need to tell him about Dave. It's going to hurt him, and I need to do that myself. Wow, that came out wrong," he laughed but without real humor in his voice. "I meant that I don't want him to find out some other way. He needs to hear it from me."

"So you will meet with him?" Rachel asked.

"Yeah, tell him to meet me at Scandals tonight. Dave and I are going to go anyway. We'll tell him together."

"Uh, okay," Rachel answered. "I'll text him and let him know. Bye, Sweetie."

"Bye, Rachel," Blaine clicked off his phone and put his head between his knees to keep from hyperventilating. He had finally gotten back on safe footing and then this. Why was he expected to handle so much? Having Kurt in New York gave him the buffer that he needed to keep from going over the edge and now he didn't even have that. Okay, Blaine, he thought. Pull yourself together.

He called Dave to let him know what was going on. Dave seemed to think it was a good thing. He told him that he could finally get over the last hurdle and get back to being friends with Kurt.  
"That's the last step, Babe," David said. "You can truly be happy again once Kurt is back in your life as a friend. And I will be right there to help you get through this."

Blaine had never been so glad for David's support and told him so. They ended the call and Blaine realized that with Dave's help, he was going to be fine. He revisited the thought of moving in with Dave. He had such great support in him and he thought that maybe it might be good thing after all. Of course he wasn't going to make any rash decisions. He left the thought for later and got back to looking at sheet music, though his brain kept wandering over to Kurt and their last conversation at Pac's. It was going to be a long day.


	3. Chapter 3

I do not own Glee or anything else mentioned in this story..

Blaine had been standing inside the door of Scandals for at least five minutes just staring at Kurt. He was still completely unsure how he was supposed to go about this when he could. barely look at Kurt without wanting to cry. Courage, Blaine, he thought. Wrong thing to think, as that just made him think of all the things he loved about Kurt. He gathered up every reserve of strength that he had and walked over.

"Hi, I hope you weren't waiting long," he said as he arrived by Kurt at the bar. Actually he hadn't been late at all, he just didn't know how to go about this. He kept his voice upbeat and happy. They moved in for a hug and actually had to pull back so they didn't kiss each other.

"No, no...uh...Hi! I-I appreciate you coming to see me. I-I would have understood if you had told me to screw off," Kurt replied.

"No, no...I wanted to see you," Blaine replied, letting his bravado fail for just a split second.

"Well, I'm here to get you back. I don't mean to blurt it out like that but for the sake of clarity...you should know that first I am going to get your forgiveness and then I am going to get your heart back," Kurt had grabbed Blaine's hands as he said all of this. Inside his head Blaine was saying _Oh, God, please yes._ But he knew how unrealistic that was considering how he couldn't actually trust him.

Instead he said, "Um...I'm seeing someone." For a split second Kurt looked like Blaine had just slapped him in the face. He quickly recovered and slipped a mask in place as Blaine went on. "And I wanted to tell you in person, especially because...you know him."

"Hey hey Kurt!" someone said from behind him as he felt a slap on his shoulder. _Karofsky?!_ Kurt literally could not believe his eyes.

"Karofsky," Kurt said out loud.

"I knew this would be a little weird for you," Blaine said as he looked down at his hands. _It's a living nightmare!_ Kurt thought as he concentrated on his breathing and keeping his virgin daiquiri from revisiting all over the happy couple. He went on to ask them how they got together and listened to them talk about how Dave had comforted Blaine at Country Bear Night and it had led into a relationship. How they called themselves Yogi and Boo Boo. _Ick ick ick. I'm gonna be sick! I'm gonna throw up! And since when did Blaine start liking bears?!_ Kurt thought.

"I know this isn't what you wanted...and I know this isn't going to be easy, but I just wanted all of us to be able to be adults about this," Blaine went on.

"And I hope we can all be friends. You know...we can all hang out and stuff," David smiled on. Kurt mumbled something about sounding like fun and quickly excused himself to the bathroom.

Blaine watched him go and felt like crying. He hoped and also feared that Kurt would come back out and talk to him. He needed to know that he hadn't completely broken him, though in all honesty he knew that he had. A very small part of him thought that Kurt actually deserved to be feeling like this, as he had done it to Blaine first. But mostly he felt that the last thing Blaine wanted to do was watch Kurt suffer by having to lay in the bed he had made for himself.

Blaine was completely unsurprised when he received a text a few minutes later from Kurt saying that he was sick and he was heading out. Blaine really had no desire to be at Scandals anymore. Everywhere he looked he was reminded of Kurt. He had had that problem in most of Lima, actually. The only places that weren't laden with happy Kurt memories were Dalton (if he avoided some key areas, like the bottom of the stairs) and Dave's place.

Dave was happily drinking a beer and talking to the bartender when Blaine turned to him and quietly said, "I really don't want to be here tonight."

"What about Kurt?" Dave asked, quizzically. Blaine handed over his phone and let Dave read the text, because he wasn't really trusting his voice right then.

"Okay, Babe...just let me finish this beer and we will take off. We can go anywhere you want," Dave replied kindly. Blaine looked down at his hands and tried not to resent Dave for making him stay there any extra time. He also tried not to think about the split second of sheer pain he had seen on Kurt's face when Blaine began to explain about Dave. It wasn't leaving his head though. He was just about to tell Dave he was going to wait outside when Dave downed the rest of his beer and gathered up his boyfriend in a hug and led him out of the bar.

They both went to Dave's truck, as Blaine was pretty sure he shouldn't be driving. The emotional toll of the evening had taken its toll and he was feeling a little sick. Also he was having a similar headache to the one he had had at Applebees the other day. "Where to, Sweetie?" Dave asked kindly.

"Let's go to your place," Blaine replied tiredly. He needed somewhere safe from Kurt.

When they got there, Blaine headed to the couch and sank in, as Dave got them a couple beers. He sat down and gathered Blaine in his arms, kissing him on the cheek.

"I think I'm gonna stay," Blaine whispered into Dave's chest.

"That's just fine, Babe. We can do whatever you want...watch a movie...or…" Dave trailed off, trying not to get too hopeful and trying not to spook Blaine. So far they had not been very physical and Dave was cool with that. He knew Blaine needed time to heal. It didn't mean that he wasn't completely attracted to Blaine and ready to go wherever the mood might take them.

"No," Blaine replied. "I think I am going to stay for...for a long time," Blaine replied looking up at Dave with a half smile.

"Really?" Dave squeaked, instantly a huge smile was on his face. Blaine quickly threw a little water on his happiness by telling him he still wasn't necessarily ready for any intimacy in the bedroom and immediately offered to sleep on the couch. Dave scoffed at that. He knew Blaine would come around in time and he would give him whatever time he needed. In the meantime, snuggling with Blaine through the night sounded pretty great to him.

The next morning Blaine awoke to being surrounded by arms and feeling extremely comfortable as he awoke. He had been dreaming about waking up in Kurt's arms in New York and dancing together around the apartment. As he slowly came to, it felt like someone had thrown ice water on him as he realized the arms around him we're not Kurt's. He sighed and got up to start another day. Another Kurtless day.

* * *

While Blaine was feeling like the biggest jerk in the world, Kurt had run to the bathroom, locked the outer door and sank down to the floor of the stall in a huge crying mess. He couldn't even form coherent thoughts. All the times he had ever been thrown up against a locker or in a dumpster had nothing on this. He literally felt like someone had punched him so hard that he couldn't think straight. It hadn't even hurt this much when Blaine had cheated on him.

After what could have been mere minutes or several hours he became aware of someone knocking. "Just a second," he tried to yell, but it came out just above a whisper. He got up and went to the sink and splashed some water on his face, trying to get some semblance of composure back.

When he finally opened the door he was greeted by a wall. Well, really it was a man. A very tall middle-aged burly man, with black jeans and chains, a bald head and a leather vest. A guy who looked extremely out of place at Scandals and would have looked much more at home in a biker bar.

Kurt looked up at the man's face. When the man saw Kurt's tear-streaked face and infinitely sad eyes he said, "Oh, honey, are you okay?" in a shockingly gentle voice.

"I...I need to go. Right now!" Kurt said as forcefully as he could. The ridiculously large man moved out of the way easily and Kurt sprinted past him.

"Does he know what he is doing to you?" Mr. Insightful biker man called after him as Kurt sprinted out the door and to his car. He had it fully backed out of the parking spot and was well on his way out of the lot when he realized he had to tell Blaine something about leaving and not just completely disappear.

 **Not feeling well, going home.** He shot off this text to Blaine and promised himself he would never be back to Scandals again. Only horribly bad things ever happened here.


	4. Chapter 4

The next day, being Saturday, found Blaine sitting on the couch in Dave's (and his...he would have to start thinking of this as his place) apartment alone at 7AM. Dave was off at his college for a Saturday intramural football practice.

Blaine was sitting with his phone on his lap. Kurt's number was up on his phone. He just needed to hit send. He really needed to find out if Kurt was okay. He just couldn't handle actually talking to him. And texting seemed too impersonal for this. On the other hand, why should it be his place to call Kurt when Kurt hadn't reached out to him at all after things went south with their relationship.

 **Rachel, I need to talk to you. Are you awake?** Blaine texted Rachel instead.

 _I am now._ Rachel answered. She had a very hard time ignoring her phone even if she was sleeping.

 **Can I call you?** Blaine asked, but then his phone rang.

"What on earth could you possibly want at 7 on a Saturday?" Rachel asked irritably when Blaine answered.

"Have you spoken with Kurt since last night?" Blaine queried anxiously.

"No...oh God. You were meeting last night. How did that go?" Rachel asked, suddenly wide awake.

"Not...well," answered Blaine stuntedly. "He was pretty shocked, though he tried to hide it, when Dave showed up. He went to the bathroom and never came back. He texted that he wasn't feeling well and left. I just need to know that he is okay. Could you find out and let me know...but don't let him know that I am asking," he added hastily.

"You don't want him to know you care?" Rachel asked, completely baffled by what was going on with these two. They so clearly still belonged together. It was going to be hard to be around them, Rachel could already tell. "Yeah, I'll call him," Rachel sighed. "But I am waiting for a decent hour. If I call right now, he is going to know something is up."

"Okay," Blaine sighed. "But let me know how he is, okay?"

"I will, Blaine. But you have to realize that he probably isn't good. And you have to accept that. He will be fine once we get glee going. But he had every intention of trying to win you back, so I'm sure it was kind of a slap in the face to find you with another guy...especially Karofsky."

"Rachel that isn't fai-" Blaine responded, but she immediately cut in.

"I'm not trying to make you feel guilty, Blaine," she spoke over him. "You have the right to do whatever is going to make you happy. I'm not taking sides here. I am just trying to make you realize that all of this is going to take time. And since we are competing, you guys are going to have to be in the same place at the same time, at least some of the time. It isn't going to be an easy thing for either of you, with everything that has happened. Just give it time...okay?"

"Okay," Blaine breathed out. "Take care of him for me, okay? He needs you right now, Rach."

"And who is going to take care of you, Sweetie?" Rachel asked. Blaine had to choke back a sob when she asked that. He had really missed having such great friends in his corner.

"Dave's got me," Blaine answered, possibly a little unconvincingly. "He is being super understanding about everything. I actually just moved into his apartment last night."

"Oh!" Rachel exclaimed. "Are you ready for that, B?"

"Yeah," he said. "It's gonna be good. I feel like I belong here more than anywhere else right now." Was he trying to convince her or himself, he wondered.

"Okay, hon. Just take it easy on all the change, okay? When something big happens to you, you aren't supposed to change things for like a year. And you seem to be moving really fast."

"You forget, Rachel, it's been a few months since everything happened. It's new to you because you were gone for so long." Again, who was he trying to convince here?

"Alright, you might be right," she answered. "Just take it easy. I love you, B."

"Me too. Talk to you later, Rach," he responded. They hung up the phone and he sat back against the couch and let the tears that had been threatening finally fall. He was so grateful to have such great friends around. He would call Sam later and maybe go play some basketball with him at the park. He wouldn't sit around and wallow about Kurt. He'd done that too much and that part of his life was over. Sure he would see Kurt around sometimes but it didn't matter. He was going to make things work with Dave and everything was going to be fine...eventually. Hopefully he and Kurt could get to a place where things weren't completely awkward and maybe even be friends. But if not, that was just the way it would have to be.

* * *

Since Rachel was up, she decided to throw some clothes on and go get some bagels and coffee and head over to Kurt's. If the way Blaine was acting was any indication, she had a feeling that he needed his best friend right now. Hopefully by the time she got over there, it wouldn't be too early for a visit. Kurt was an early riser, but he would be suspicious of her being up early, since she was NOT an early riser.

After hitting the Lima Bean for coffee and danish, she headed over to the Hudson-Hummel household. It was still a little hard for Rachel to go over there since she wouldn't find Finn, but Kurt was more important than her slight sadness over what was never going to be.

"Hey, hon," Carole said as she answered the door when Rachel knocked.

"Hi Carole," she responded, handing her a coffee.

"Thanks! So sweet," Carole said, leading her into the house.

"I got one for Burt too. Is he here?" Rachel asked, following Carole into the kitchen.

"Actually he's down at the shop. But he would thank you, if he was here. Now, I'm going to assume you are here to see the Great Sleepless Wonder," Carole went on. "He's in his room."

"The Great Sleepless Wonder?" Rachel queried.

"Kurt," Carole sighed. "He's been up all night wandering around the house. I didn't sleep very well last night and I found him wandering four times when I kept waking up myself. I am pretty sure he was doing that all night. He didn't even sit anywhere, he just sort of zombie walked from place to place. I finally got him to go to bed about six this morning. Luckily his dad sleeps like the dead so he doesn't know anything about all of that. I am waiting until later to fill him in because right now the last thing Kurt needs is Burt trying to dad-talk to him. He needs sleep and food...in that order. So go on up...he was still awake last time I checked. Maybe you can get some food in him at least."

When Rachel got up to Kurt's room, she noticed the door was part way open so she walked on in, fully expecting Kurt to be awake. She saw that his eyes were closed and he was breathing evenly, so she began to very quietly make her way back out.

"Hi, Rachel," Kurt whispered from the bed. His voice cracked as if he hadn't spoken in a very long time. Rachel assumed that was due to being up all night.

She turned back around and smiled reassuringly. "I thought you were sleeping. I understand that you really need to after last night," she said, walking over to sit on his bed. She handed him a coffee. "I know you generally drink regular coffee anymore, but I thought you might need an old friend today," she said after Kurt had glanced at his cup, realizing it was the mocha he used to drink in high school.

"Thanks," he murmured, taking a long drink. "When I heard someone coming, I assumed it was Carole checking on me again. I just couldn't take anymore of her pitying mom looks right now, so I pretended to sleep. But then I smelled the coffee," he explained. He had already drunk over half the Grande mocha when he set it on his side table and lay back down. Rachel laid down next to him, putting her head right by his. They were both looking up at the ceiling because Rachel knew he would not want her looking at him like this. He was absolutely wrecked and he hated to have people see him this way.

"I am so sorry, Kurt," she whispered. "I tried to tell you what was going on but I just couldn't bear to break your heart that way. And then Blaine said he wanted to tell you himself. I AM SO sorry that you got blind-sided."

"Well, while I would have appreciated you trying a little harder to tell me," Kurt replied with a mirthless little laugh, "I got what I deserved. I did this to myself. Blaine didn't do it to me, and you certainly had nothing to do with it. Even if it does feel like he stabbed me in the heart with a dull knife, I can't really blame him for moving on." Kurt was drawing strength just from the closeness of his best friend. He turned his body in towards her and laid his head down on her shoulder, basically bear hugging her from the side. She wrapped her arm around him and pulled him in close. She was pretty surprised that he decided to basically wrap his body around hers, considering he wasn't normally very touchy-feely with anyone except for Blaine. She understood, though, that right now he needed to draw strength from a friend and that he was doing that physically instead of emotionally. They didn't talk beyond that. She felt a little wetness on her her shirt and realized that Kurt was crying silently. She just hugged him a little tighter. After awhile his breath started to even out and she realized from the fact that he was getting heavier that he was falling asleep. She made no movement. She was prepared to stay there all day and hold her best friend while he slept, if he needed it. She did chuckle inside her head at the fact that the only people she knew that relaxed from drinking coffee were Blaine and Kurt. It had the exact opposite effect on them than it had on most people. She chocked it up to the fact that the both drink copious amounts of the stuff and figured that their need for the caffeine was greater than most people's. She was just convinced he was completely asleep when both of their phones simultaneously beeped an incoming message.

Kurt shot up like a cannon, looking around wildly. He was clearly completely disoriented. Rachel was going to kill whoever sent them a text message right then. She reached over into her purse, which was on the nightstand to retrieve her phone and read her message. At the same time, Kurt had grabbed his phone off the other nightstand to read the same message. It was from Mr. Schue.

 **To: Kurt H, Rachel B, Blaine A, and Sam E**

 _Hey gang, I am inviting everyone over for dinner Monday night so we can set some ground rules to keep everything friendly this year. Dinner at 6:30. Let me know if you can make it. I look forward to seeing all of you! Thanks, Will_

"No," Kurt said looking at Rachel, panic-stricken. "No no no no no no!" He continued, as she looked ready to argue with him.

"Kurt, you have to...you have to see him sooner or later," she replied, knowing how unfair this was. It was Saturday. He was expected to already see Blaine on Monday. On the other hand, better to get it done in a friendly meeting.

"I can't," he said with a broken sob.

"What are you going to do then, Sweetie? You are going to have to see him. He _will_ be around...not just at events, either. You are going to run into each other. Lima isn't that big and you have all the same friends…" she trailed off.

"I know, just...it's too soon!"

"I know this isn't what you want to hear, but have you thought about going back to New York and doing your original idea for your work-study?" She asked, not really seeing how he was going to handle this emotionally.

"I can't," he replied brokenly. "At about three this morning I thought that was my only option so I looked into it. All the paperwork has been processed. I can't redo it now."

"Okay," Rachel drew out slowly. "Then you are going to face this thing head on," she said determinedly. "First thing you are going to do is lie down and sleep for real. Because things are not nearly going to look as bad after you have slept some. And then you are going to get up and you and I are going down to the kitchen and whip up every comfort food we can think of and we are going to have a pity party for the rest of this weekend. Because come Monday, we are giving ourselves over to doing what we are here for and you are going to be fine and get through it."

"But-"

"No buts, Kurt. We will get you through this! Now come here," Rachel lay back down and held her arms open to him. He sighed and lay back down. He cleared his mind and was asleep surprisingly quickly. Rachel fell back asleep too, after being woken up so early. Just as she was drifting off, she remembered she was supposed to be texting Blaine about how Kurt was doing. Well, that would just have to wait because she wasn't moving and risking waking Kurt up for anything. Plus, she was hoping by waiting she would be able to truthfully be able to tell Blaine that Kurt was doing okay. Right now she would be straight up lying if she texted him that Kurt was okay and she knew that no matter what, that is what Kurt would want her to say if he knew.

* * *

Late that evening a text came in to Rachel's phone as Blaine could not handle waiting any longer. By that point she and Kurt were sitting down in the living room, stuffing their faces and watching the Barbra version of _A Star is Born._ So when she got the: **What the heck is going on?** text from Blaine she was able to text back: _Been with Kurt all day. He is going to be fine._ And she let it go at that.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N So I like and dislike this chapter at the same time. It is nice that Blaine has someone, but it doesn't feel right at the same time. Hey if you want to drop me a line to let me know what you are thinking of this, I would love that!

* * *

While Rachel was busy taking care of Kurt, Blaine found himself at loose ends. Dave would be home in a little while. Blaine decided that since he was up, he would go ahead and get ready to face the day. He hopped in the shower and found something cute to wear. His first instinct had been to put on his old Dalton sweats and not worry about his hair or anything and just be a slob since it was Saturday. However, as he was newly living with his boyfriend, who was being extremely amazing to him, he decided to look the part.

After he put on his black polo and red polka dotted bow tie and some form fitting capris, he gelled his hair to perfection. He glanced at the clock and realized he had about 20 minutes before Dave would be home from practice. He decided that Dave deserved a nice breakfast to come home to and he quickly got out the eggs, bacon, and bagels. He briefly smiled to himself over the memory of the cronuts he used to eat in New York. _It's a good thing for both of us that they don't make cronuts here in Lima_ , he actually laughed out loud at that. Dave had a really hard time controlling himself around sweets, but he was forever dieting and trying to stay away from the stuff. And even though Blaine thought he looked pretty good, he could understand how Dave felt after his own little battle with food in New York.

He placed the bagels in front of the toaster and started frying up the bacon. He briefly wondered if this would be one of the days Dave grabbed breakfast on the way home. He was known to do that, but Blaine was really hoping to surprise him, so he didn't want to call and tell him not to. He found out that he didn't have to worry when Dave walked in.

"Oh my God, something smells amazing!" Dave said as he walked in. "Babe!" he exclaimed as he saw Blaine putting the final preparations on the table. "This is so great! I was going to ask if you wanted to go out to breakfast, but you did this instead! Thanks, so much!" Dave came over and gave him a quick peck on the mouth and Blaine felt momentarily guilty. _It should not be so surprising to my boyfriend that I would cook him breakfast_ , he thought. _I used to do this for Kurt all the time._ He stopped himself right there. He was not going to continue to compare his relationship with Kurt to his relationship with Dave. He had been ready to marry Kurt. This was a completely different set of circumstances.

They sat down and started to eat and talk. Dave went a little overboard on the praise of the food. After all, it was just bacon and eggs. Every short order cook in America could make it. They lapsed into easy conversation about Dave's intramural football team and about his classes and how the Warblers were coming along. Blaine was feeling so at ease. If it wasn't for the niggling fear that Kurt was having the worst day of his life, things would be perfect. He was also feeling plenty guilty about that. Here he got to enjoy being with a really wonderful guy who cared about him, while who knows what was going on with Kurt. _Why hasn't Rachel texted me yet?_ he wondered.

After they cleaned up the breakfast dishes together, they began to discuss what to do that day. "Well," Blaine began when Dave asked him what he wanted to do. "I really need to go to the sheet music store. But I don't really feel like it today."

"Okay, we'll save that for another day. So what do you want to do today?" Dave queried.

"I know it probably sounds kind of lame, but baseball playoffs are on. I kinda just want to veg on the couch and watch them all day," Blaine replied.

"Seriously?!" Dave almost squeaked. "You think that would sound lame to _m_ e _?_ I am SO in!" Dave fist bumped the air over his head and grabbed Blaine by the hand and pulled him over to the couch. He all but yanked him down next to him into a soft and waiting embrace. Blaine grabbed the remote off the coffee table and turned the tv on. It wasn't quite time for the first game to start so they settled in and watched the ESPN sports announcers talk about who was going to walk away with the World Series rings this year. Blaine didn't really care who won. The Indians were his team and they were long out of the running. Truth be told, while he did like baseball, he enjoyed watching the hot guys in tight pants just as much. So they snuggled on the couch, watching the games pretty much all day, and there was also a bit of making out here and there. Blaine amusedly noticed that the making out seemed to happen after someone seriously hot came up to bat or make a great catch in the outfield. He also noticed that his boyfriend seemed to get quite a bit more affectionate when someone cute was up who happened to have a beard. Blaine wondered briefly if he should grow out some facial hair. He'd think about it.

It would have been the absolute perfect day if it weren't for the fact that no matter how many times he tried to stop it, his thoughts kept wandering back to Kurt. He was seriously getting annoyed that Rachel never texted back.

The night ended with Blaine laying on the couch with his head on Dave's lap. He was starting to get pretty sleepy when Dave yawned and stretched and said he thought they should go to bed.

"I think I'm just going to sleep here," Blaine replied stifling a yawn. "Bed's too far away." That was only part of the reason he didn't want to go to bed with Dave. They had been snuggling all day and he was all snuggled out. He just wanted some space for awhile. Actually, he needed some space. He knew that if he went to bed with Dave, there was a chance that his hormones would take over and he would do something he wasn't ready for. Because while he knew emotionally he wasn't ready to be intimate with Dave, after a day full of hot baseball guys and making out, he was worried that if he went to bed with Dave, his physical need to be with someone would take over. And he had promised himself after that horrible night back when he was a senior when he cheated on Kurt that there was no way he was ever going to bed with someone unless he was in love with that someone again. And he really hadn't sorted out his feelings for Dave yet. Plus Kurt had been intruding on his thoughts pretty much all day, and he didn't want to be in bed with someone, while thinking of someone else.

Dave stood up in front of Blaine, whose head fell softly to the couch. "Are you sure? I can carry you to bed, and you know there is no pressure to do anything," Dave seemed bummed that he was going to bed alone.

"No, I'm good," Blaine said, feeling guilty. I'm just going to let SportsCenter drone on and put me to sleep." Blaine smiled at Dave, trying to let him know that this wasn't anything to do with him.

"Okay," Dave sighed. He walked into the bedroom and Blaine felt really bad for a second. That was until Dave came back carrying a pillow and a blanket and tucked Blaine in. Happy feelings welled up in the pit of Blaine's stomach as Dave kissed him goodnight and made his way back to the bedroom. Blaine had to physically hold himself in place to keep from following him after that loving display.

Blaine let himself calm down and then had one more thing to do before he could call it a night. He texted Rachel to find out if Kurt was okay. He was extremely irritated that she had kept him in the dark all day.

 **What the heck is going on?** he texted Rachel.

 _Been with Kurt all day. He is going to be fine._ She texted back. He waited for more but that seemed to be all the answer he was going to get. He fitfully punched his pillow and slammed back down on it. He knew he had to let this all go, but it was extremely difficult. He didn't have nearly enough information, but he was going to have to live with that. He turned his attention back to the men talking on tv. He wasn't listening at all. He was just watching their mouths move, which eventually lulled him to sleep, just like he said.


	6. Chapter 6

Blaine was so glad when Monday rolled around because it meant he could go to work at Dalton. The weekend felt ridiculously long and he just wanted to get back to music and dance and forget all the rest of the nonsense that was going on.

He stopped at Starbucks on the way out of town, like normal and got to Dalton at about 9, as was his usual. Early classes were ending and he walked through the hallway high fiving and shaking the students hands. Dalton was home and it felt amazing.

He started out the day by going through sheet music and watching footage of old choreography to try and get an edge. The Warblers had once been known as a "stool choir" where they didn't move much, but that had changed with Sebastian Smythe and Hunter Clarington. While both those guys had done a lot of damage to the reputation of the Warblers, they did do some good. The good they did was introduce dance into not only practices but performances. The other thing they did for Blaine, personally, was make it so that the powers that be at Dalton would not allow the Warblers to continue without a faculty advisor. Originally the position was to make sure that the Warblers didn't use any performance enhancing drugs ever again, or do anything else that would call into question their reputation. Hunter had really screwed things up on that score.

The advisor Blaine had taken over for had really just been around to look down his nose at the new crop of Warblers and to make them uncomfortable. When Blaine took over, the Warblers were pretty intimidated and they didn't seem very happy. Blaine had spent the first afternoon with them singing and laughing and they soon grew to love him like an older brother. The Warblers, while still having a council and technically being self-run, let Blaine make a lot of decisions and he quickly had them whipped into shape. Now he just needed to make sure their dancing was as up to par as their singing was, because Vocal Adrenaline did not pull any punches.

"I had to see it with my own two eyes," someone said from the doorway. Blaine could hear the smirk in the person's voice and could not actually believe his ears as he turned to his mystery guest. "Hey, buddy! What in the heck are you doing here?" Sebastian Smythe asked.

"Hey Seb," Blaine answered surprise showing in his voice. "I'm coaching the Warblers." Sebastian came over and perched on the edge of Blaine's desk, a little more close than was actually comfortable for Blaine.

"Okay, last I heard from Doe Face, you were in New York, killing it at that faggy school of yours and getting ready to marry Gay Face," Sebastian replied. "Now you are here, coaching the Warblers...who aren't actually supposed to have a coach? What gives?"

"So many things wrong with that sentence. You are literally the only gay man I know who uses the term "faggy" as an actual adjective. Why do you do that?! And I would appreciate if you didn't call my good friend Trent "Doe Face," Blaine finished up. Sebastian just continued to perch, waiting for the angry rant about him calling Kurt "Gay Face" but it never came. Sebastian raised his eyebrow.

"Not going to call me out on calling Hummel "Gay Face?" What the heck has happened to you? For real, though," Sebastian actually seemed concerned, which was a definite change from the smirkiness that usually defined his facial features.

"Kurt and I aren't together anymore. He isn't my favorite person right now. So, while I find it offensive as a gay man for you to call anyone "Gay Face," I'm not really in a place to defend Kurt right now," Blaine replied matter-of-factly.

"What the actual hell, Killer? You guys were obnoxiously and disgustingly perfect for each other So perfect that even I, the perfect specimen you see before you, could not turn your head," Normally Sebastian would have taken this opportunity to move in on Blaine, but he knew how fruitless that would be, as Blaine would never feel anything for anyone but Kurt.

"Apparently we were too young, or something. At least that is what Kurt said when he broke up with me-"

"Whoa, what?! HE broke up with YOU? You have GOT to be kidding me!"

"No, I'm not," Blaine was getting annoyed with this conversation. "I'm actually seeing Dave Karofsky now." Sebastian made a strangled noise that was part laugh, part choke. "What are you doing here, anyways?"

"I happened to be in town visiting the folks and since Doe-er-Trent told me what you were doing, I decided to come out and see you. I've always considered you one of my better friends." Blaine had to work to keep his face passive when Sebastian said that. His eyebrows naturally wanted to shoot up at being considered, well, anything to Sebastian but an old conquest, let alone a good friend. Seb was definitely a person who needed to work on his friendship skills if Blaine was one of his better ones. Be that as it may, Blaine glanced up at the clock and saw that it was lunchtime.

"Well, Friend," Blaine said. It's lunchtime and as we all know the food here at Dalton is incomparible. Why don't you stay and eat with me and then you can help me. Warbler practice is right after lunch and these guys need some dance help. We all know you could whip them into shape in about five minutes." Blaine new appealing to his vanity would work. So Sebastian stayed and helped him get the Warblers to move. It was actually a lot of fun to work with Sebastian. He was ridiculously fun to be around when he wasn't trying to get in your pants and Blaine was pretty sure that by the time he left about two thirds of the Warblers had huge crushes on him.

Blaine walked Seb out to his car and thanked him for helping. To which Sebastian replied, "Go find your man, Blaine. If you guys can't make it, there is no hope for any of us. And I better get invited to the wedding." With that, he got on his motorcycle, put his helmet on, and sped away.

Blaine just stood there shaking his head. He realized it was time to take more drastic measures to prove to everyone he was over Kurt and with Dave. With that thought, he walked back into Dalton and finished out his day.

As he was getting set to leave, Blaine came across a dark-skinned girl with a big but tame and very beautiful afro.

"Excuse me," the girl said.

"Can...I help you?" Blaine asked, looking her up and down. She seemed to be in a girl version of a Dalton uniform.

"You're Mr. Anderson right? My name's Jane. I'm new to Dalton," she answered.

"What do you mean...you're a girl," he sort of laughed out.

"My dad went to Dalton. And two of my uncles," she explained.

"That's nice," Blaine said, going past her and out the door. He wasn't sure what she wanted with him at all, but he needed to get on the road so he could get to the dinner meeting with Schue and everyone.

Jane was not perturbed and followed him out, still talking. "But then here I was stuck at one of the lowest performing public schools in Ohio with no arts, no music. So, my parents brought a title 9 suit against Dalton and won."

"Shocking," Blaine replied. He quickly went on to say, "uh, I mean that's, that's amazing," when he realized he sounded less than impressed that she was there.

While Blaine was getting in his car Jane continued, "Thanks, that's nice to hear. Anyway, I talked to the dean of performing arts and he said I should talk to you. I wanna be a Warbler."

Blaine could have been knocked over with a feather. The Warblers were guys! Well, so was Dalton for that matter. Guys! What was going on today?! First Sebastian arrives and acts like a person and now this? Blaine quickly excused himself saying he had a meeting to get to, but that they would talk the next day.

The whole ride to Lima had Blaine going back and forth as to whether he should even let this girl try out. The Warblers and Dalton itself were so steeped in tradition...how was this going to play? Would the Warblers even accept having a girl around? And furthermore, what was wrong with an all-boys school? He had always thought that the camaraderie that went with just being with guys and not having to try to impress girls was a great thing. By the time he had arrived at Mr. Schue's condo, he had himself quite worked up.


	7. Chapter 7

Kurt and Rachel were fighting over whether or not they were co-directors of New Directions or director and assistant when they gathered around the table at Mr Schue's apartment.

Rachel decided to cut it off quickly by saying, "We're just focusing on recruiting right now." As she was saying this, the doorbell rang.

"Oh, I guess that's Blaine," Rachel said, keeping her voice light and easy. She knew how Kurt was feeling about seeing Blaine and she wanted to make sure that the evening went okay for him.

Mr. Schue greeted Blaine at the door. He came into the room in a sort of rush saying, "Oh my God, you will NOT believe the day I that I just had. Sorry I'm late. What'd I miss?"

Mr. Schue told him that he didn't miss much and they decided to set some ground rules for a friendly competition. The rules were laid out: no stealing each other's setlists, no spying, and no poaching. And in true Sam fashion, he had added always be supportive of each other and clap for each other no matter what.

Blaine went on to say, "I actually really really need everyone's advice. I have a huge dilemma. A _girl_ wants to join the Warblers."

"What's the dilemma?" Rachel asked, confused and clearly affronted for her sex.

Schue added, "You cannot be on the wrong side of history here, I mean, you of all people should know that."

"I know, I just think that tradition is important too, you know?" Blaine defended himself. Kurt could not believe what he was hearing. Blaine had always been about including everyone and making everyone feel safe and appreciated. Was this Karofsky's influence? He had been trying to avoid looking at Blaine, because Blaine was dressed extremely cute in his plaid suit and bow tie and it was doing things to Kurt just to look at him. However, he couldn't help but chime in to this conversation.

After Rachel said some traditions are meant to be broken, Kurt said, "You have to let her try out...I mean, what's the worse that could happen?"

When Kurt spoke it was like Blaine realized he was there for the first time. He didn't know what to say next. Obviously his friends were right about Jane, but that became the least of his worries as his body reacted to Kurt's mere presence. His brain went a little fuzzy for a moment. Luckily Sam seemed to be the only one who noticed that he'd lapsed into silence and was staring at Kurt. Kurt was looking down at his salad or up at the art above Sam and Rachel's heads. Pretty much anywhere but at Blaine at this point. Mr. Schue and Rachel were droning on about equality, completely oblivious to the tension in the room. Eventually the evening wore to a close and the four friends walked out to their cars together.

Blaine had been trying to catch Kurt's eye all evening. He really wanted to talk to him, but Kurt wasn't allowing that to happen. He finally got his chance when Sam and Rachel started talking to each other by Sam's truck. Kurt was standing over by Rachel's car and Blaine took the opportunity to walk over.

"Kurt?" Blaine asked. Kurt looked up into Blaine's eyes. Blaine was forced momentarily speechless as the two most beautiful blue eyes he'd ever seen were staring straight into his. When Blaine didn't say anything more, Kurt raised his eyebrows in question. Blaine was really mad at his brain in that moment, as it seemed to be anywhere but in his head.

Rachel clued in to the fact that Blaine had Kurt cornered. She quickly wish Sam farewell and raced over. She mother henned Kurt into the car and took off without so much as a goodbye to Blaine.

That was kind of rude, don't you think?" Kurt said to Rachel as they pulled out of the parking lot.

"You looked panicked, so I guess I didn't think. I just acted," she replied.

"Well, even though I was fine, I thank you for your commitment to me," Kurt tried to laugh it off, but it really didn't work out for him. He was still reeling from staring into the two most gorgeous eyes in the world.

Rachel decided that they should go to the Lima Bean and discuss possibilities for the glee club. She had posted a sign up sheet that day, but so far had only gotten rude comments and innuendos as sign ups.

* * *

Meanwhile, Blaine had gotten into his car and driven away as well. The problem was he didn't really want to go home and be with Dave right now. He needed some time to think. He started to just drive around aimlessly. He didn't have any idea when the tears began to fall, but when it got too hard to see through them, he pulled into the the mall parking lot and leaned his head on his steering wheel.

 _I cry too much_ , he thought bitterly. Blaine rested his head on his steering wheel and tried to stop crying, but it wasn't any use. The tears just seemed to keep coming. _Why could being around Kurt make him come this unglued?!_ he thought angily. He was with Dave, for God sakes. And he wanted to be with Dave. He could trust Dave. Dave had been there for him.

Thinking of Dave seemed to conjour him up, as he texted Blaine to find out where he was. Only then did Blaine realize that quite a lot of time had passed.

His next text was from Sam. **You** **okay man? I just got a text from Karofsky asking if we were still at Schue's. You left a long time ago.**

 _I've just been driving around thinking. I didn't realize it was so late._ Blaine texted back.

 **LOL, do you have any gas left?** Sam returned.

 _Oh, I'm in the mall parking lot. I ended up pulling over after a while._ Silent tears were still streaming down Blaine's face, but at least he had stopped sobbing.

 **You started crying and had to pull over, didn't you?** Sam texted. How was this guy, who most of the time didn't seem to understand most things, so perceptive when it came to his friends? Blaine wondered.

 **I'm coming out there. Tell me what store you are by.** Sam went on.

 _You don't need to come out here. I am going to head home in just a minute._ Blaine replied.

 **Dude, tell me where you are, so I don't have to drive around looking for you. We both know you aren't leaving yet.**

After about five more texts like that, where Sam had said, I am literally getting into my truck, where are you, etc etc, Blaine finally told him. Blaine got out of his car and stood with his back up against the hood. When Sam arrived, he took one look at Blaine and pulled him in for a fierce hug. He didn't let go, as Blaine started crying out loud again and they stood that way for what felt to Blaine like a pretty long time. When Blaine finally quieted down, Sam led him into the mall and to the Starbucks. If he knew anything about Blaine (and he did) he knew that Blaine needed a medium drip right then to calm his frayed nerves. Sam told Blaine to text Karofsky again, because he really was worried at this point. And then he told him to spill his guts.

Blaine recounted the weekend's events starting with the horrible Scandals encounter and bringing him up to speed throughout the weekend. He talked about how he had real feelings for Dave and was worried that he wasn't being nice to him. He talked about how he had decided to move in with Dave, but that that wasn't common knowledge yet. And he talked about how every time he was in Kurt's presence, he ended up in tears or close to tears. He was getting really tired of feeling that way and he felt like a complete traitor to his current boyfriend when it happened.

Sam just let him talk and talk. Blaine went through three cups of coffee while he went on and on about his love life.

"Let me ask you this," Sam said, when Blaine had finally talked himself out. "Who does your heart tell you you want to be with?" Blaine struggled with the question for a long time. Sam, ever the optimist, hoped he would realize how head over heels he was in love with Kurt and finally admit it out loud. But he didn't.

"Dave...obviously Dave. I can trust Dave. I want to be with Dave. I can't trust Kurt," Blaine finally answered in a rush, because it seemed like he had taken too long to answer. If it had been a joking moment, Sam would have told him he had sounded like Rain Man just then.

While Sam really didn't think it was true, he wasn't going to try and talk Blaine out of thinking he wanted to be with Dave, because he knew it would be fruitless. Blaine could be even more stubborn than Kurt when he wanted to be. Sam, himself, didn't know Karofsky very well, and what he did know of him was not good at all. First there was the whole bullying Kurt in high school and now there seemed to be Dave moving in on Blaine when he was weak and needed someone.

"Okay," Sam drawled out. "Well, the man you want to be with is at home impatiently waiting for you. Time to go?"

"Yep, time to go. Thanks for listening to me, Sammy," Blaine said with a small smile. He could totally remember why he had briefly fallen for his best friend in high school. He was absolutely the easiest guy to talk to in the whole world and he was always so understanding and non-judgmental. _Kurt could take a page out of Sam's book,_ ran through Blaine's mind, before he had a chance to stop it.

Blaine arrived home a few minutes later. He walked in to Dave dancing around the kitchen as he cleaned up what was obviously his dinner dishes. Blaine leaned on the door frame and grinned at him. The music was up so loud that Dave never even heard him come in. And since his back was to him, he realized that Dave had no idea he was there.

He walked over to him, spun him around and crashed their lips together. Dave quickly recovered from the surprise attack and wrapped his arms around his little Boo Boo and pulled him in close. Things started off heady and quickly moved into the realm of frenzy. Their hands started roaming over each other and Blaine started to pull Dave toward the bedroom, never breaking the kiss.

Dave did, however. "Babe, slow down," he said as he pulled back. Blaine let out a whine as he was forced to take a step back. That whine did crazy things to Dave and he thought _I should get a medal for cutting this off._

"What?" Blaine asked as his glassy lustful eyes looked into David's.

"Babe, you told me that the only way you would go to bed with someone was if you were in love with them when we first started hanging out." Blaine just tried to start kissing again, but Dave held him off. "Are you prepared to look me in the eye right now and tell me you are in love with me?" he asked. Blaine didn't say a word and the silence stretched on for a minute or two. "Because it would be awfully soon," Dave continued. "And I know I'm not ready to say it to you, so I doubt you are to me. And while I don't have the same moral code as you, it's something that is important to you and I don't want to take that away from you." Blaine couldn't fault him for that, and it just made him fall a little bit more in like with Dave. But no, he realized he wasn't ready to say those words yet, so he needed to back off.

"I'm so sorry," Blaine mumbled, completely embarrassed.

"Oh, honey, don't be embarrassed! It isn't every day that the hottest guy I've ever seen comes in and sticks his tongue down my throat," he said with a smile. Blaine jumped up and down a couple times and shook his whole body.

"I'm gonna need the coldest shower in the world," Blaine said, trying to laugh. It didn't quite come off, but Dave didn't seem to mind.

"Okay, Babe, you go do that. I'm gonna finish up here before I get ready for bed. Early day tomorrow."

Blaine grabbed his pj's, went into the bathroom and turned the shower on. He didn't actually take a cold shower. He got in and let the steam and hot water beat out some of the frustrations of the day. It was much easier to get rid of his physical frustration than it was to get rid of his emotional ones. He needed to forget about Kurt. He just had no idea how he was supposed to do that. He figured that he needed to keep moving forward with Dave and eventually everything would click into place.

By the time he got done with his shower, Dave was in bed reading a Sports Illustrated magazine. Blaine walked over and perched himself on the edge of the bed by Dave.

"Thanks, Hon, for doing what you did tonight. It wasn't fair of me to come on to you like that, when I probably couldn't follow through. You are my hero," he said, grabbing Dave's hand and bringing it to his lips. For his part, Dave couldn't get past the fact that Blaine had called him "hon." It was the first term of endearment he'd ever used and it made Dave's insides melt.

"No problem, Babe," he replied, though he still thought he should have earned some kind of man of the year award for putting a stop to Blaine's advances.

"I'll go sleep on the couch," Blaine told him.

"Don't be silly. This bed is plenty big enough for us to be both be in it and not have to even touch. I like having you here with me," Dave said giving Blaine doe eyes. Blaine laughed and consented. He went around the bed and crawled in lying on his side facing Dave. He threaded their fingers together. The craziness of the day quickly caught up to him and he was out within minutes.

It took Dave much longer to fall asleep. Truth be told, Dave didn't stop things as a totally selfless gesture. He was guarding his heart. He had had random hook ups before and it had been fine, but he couldn't do that with Blaine. If Blaine had told Dave that he loved him tonight, Dave was 99% sure that he would have said it right back. He just said what he said as an out when Blaine didn't say anything. Dave wasn't willing to get any more emotionally involved than he already was when it seemed that Blaine was completely distracted by Kurt. Blaine probably thought he was hiding it from Dave, but Dave wasn't stupid. He could see what was happening, even if he was pretending not to. He wasn't going to throw in the towel yet, but he was going to be cautious with his own heart. He'd had it broken a few times, and he didn't want to go there again.


	8. Chapter 8

_A/N Hey everyone, I hope you are liking this so far. I love my boys and want what is best for them. Therefore, it is hard for me to stop reading happy, fluffy Klaine fics to come and write this mostly angsty one. However, you know what they say, "If you write it, the fluff will come." (Hahaha, I happen to be a huge dork.) I am really enjoying writing this and love the feedback you are giving me. ) Thanks guys!_

 _PS: I am trying to update 2 chapters at a time, but I love this one, so I want you to have it!_

* * *

The next morning found Homecoming in full swing at McKinley. It also found Kurt and Rachel in the choir room in the midst of the rather large fight that they didn't have the night before at Schue's house. They had decided to sort all the sheet music that had just been stuffed in boxes and shoved in the props room of the auditorium.

"Well, I never agreed to be your assistant. I'm just saying co-chair seems a little more fair," Kurt spat out. He distinctly remembers Rachel asking him to co-direct this endeavor with her and now she is on some sort of weird power trip.

Yeah, well, you never would have thought to do your work study program at McKinley if I wasn't here in the first place!" Rachel fired back.

"Okaaay...let's just hold off on the whole labels issue until we actually have a glee club to lead. Now where did you put _We_ _Both Reached For The Gun_ from _Chicago_?" Kurt asked, trying to keep the peace.

"1975 to 1980."

 _Oh for the love..._ Kurt thought. Out loud he asked, "You...organized them chronologically?"

"Yes," she snapped back to which Kurt audibly sighed. "Wait a minute...what does _Xanadu_ have to do with Ace of Base?!" Rachel shrieked as she walked over and saw Kurt's weird filing system.

"I'm filing them based on emotion!" Kurt responded, raising his voice as well. "As we always should have filed them," he went on a little more calmly. "Alright this pile is "Diva Strikes Back" and that pile is "Cherish Yourself" and that pile right there is "Makeovers" because we always tend to love a good makeover."

"Great, well we just wasted the past two hours and now we have to start over all over again," Rachel yelled in full on diva melt-down mode.

"Okay there is no point in organizing sheet music when we don't have any members!" Kurt started his own diva rant. "Rachel, you have got to get more proactive if you expect this to work! Okay, you can't just post a sign up sheet and expect people to sign up like Mr. Schue did. McKinley has changed. Sue has got these kids thinking the arts don't even exist. We have got to show them that glee is possible! I'll be in the auditorium," and with that Kurt stalked off leaving Rachel to think about his words. If she wanted to be fully in charge, then it was her responsibility to get kids to show up.

Kurt had a plan to fill up the rest of the day. Just as the sheet music had all been basically thrown in boxes to rot, so had all the costumes and props. He guessed they were lucky it was all still there. However, he knew all the costumes needed to be taken out and taken care of. Since he was the resident fashionista, he figured that job fell to him. He knew everything needed to be hung back up, many things would also need to be pressed, possibly dry cleaned, and some things would probably not be salvageable as what they were so he would have to see if anything else could be made out of them. He knew this kind of fashion work would keep his eye on the ball and not let his mind wander unnecessarily to places (or people) where it did not belong. Or so he thought.

Arriving in the props room, he started opening boxes that had "costumes" scrawled across the top. The first box was filled with a bunch of black material. As he took the pieces out one by one, he realized that it was full of tailed tuxedos. Underneath all the jackets and pants, he found white shirts, white vests and white bow ties. He remembered back when he was in junior high begging his dad to come see the high school put on a Gershwin review. He realized that these were from that. That meant that there were top hats somewhere that needed to go with these tails. _Well, hopefully_ , he thought. He pulled a rolling rack over and began to hang up all the pieces. He spent time organizing each tux by size. When he had them all out he looked them over. He was pretty sure if he brought his steam press to school that is all they would need. They were all still clean, so that was something. He was hoping to find many more costumes in such good shape.

Kurt's hopes were momentarily dashed when he realized that they next box which was filled with old glee outfits, not ones that he recognized but that had to be what they were, had been severely water damaged. The outfits were full of mildew and there would be absolutely no salvaging them. They seemed to be old disco outfits. As soon as he realized who they belonged to, he got pretty depressed. Mr. Schue was going to be so disappointed that their 1993 nationals costumes were completely ruined. Kurt hauled over a rolling trash can next to the boxes and just threw that whole box in. He realized that he was going to have to be ruthless about this, which was totally depressing.

He found a couple more boxes filled with what looked like show choir costumes, some he recognized from his days, and some he did not. It seemed like most of the more recent stuff had been better taken care of, so they were luckily going to be able to salvage a lot. He hung up many costumes that only needed to be steamed and he made a pile of things that would absolutely need dry cleaned, mostly for the musty smell that was emanating from a lot of it.

When he was about a fourth of the way through the boxes, he opened another one and the top costume made him audibly gasp. The thing sitting on the very top of this box was Blaine's "Tony" jacket from _West Side Story._ He hadn't even considered the fact that he was going to come across this. He sank to the floor and pulled it out reverently. He put it up to his face to smell it and realized that it did not smell like mold it smelled like...Blaine. He didn't even know how that was possible considering he knew Blaine would have washed it before turning it in.

His mind wandered back, unbidden, to that week.

 _Kurt remembered how it had started out as the worst week of his high school life. He'd gone into the Lima Bean to get coffee and had come across his boyfriend sitting with another very attractive guy dressed in a Dalton blazer. When he'd gone over to find out who it was he was introduced to the one and only Sebastian Smythe. The man who would quickly become his archnemesis for Blaine's heart. Of course that wasn't really true because Blaine had loved Kurt, but Kurt knew that Sebastian had momentarily turned Blaine's head._

 _He went on to remember the first horrible night he spent at Scandals when Blaine tried to get him to have sex in the back of his car. God, he'd been so angry with Blaine. After having one beer the guy had turned into a complete ass and didn't consider Kurt's feelings at all. Well, that probably wasn't fair. He'd had told Kurt so many times after that whole debacle how much he loved him and that he had just wanted to show him._

 _By the end of the week, Kurt had allowed Blaine to show him that. His thoughts then turned to the absolute most wonderful night he had had in high school. It was still one of the highest points of his entire life, in fact-_

 _After the musical had ended and he'd switched out of his costume, he walked out on stage to find Blaine doing a dance move in his street clothes._

" _Shouldn't you be celebrating?" Kurt asked quietly as he watched Blaine dance the move perfectly._

" _I'm going over this move. I-I messed it up tonight, I know I can do it better."_

" _Beauty of the stage. You get to do it all over again tomorrow night. Personally I thought both of you guys were perfect," Kurt said as he watched Blaine flub the dance move he had just executed perfectly a second ago._

" _Thank you. Your Officer Krupky killed. It brought the house down," Blaine said with a smile._

" _Well, I can't help but pull focus, sorry" Kurt threw his head around haughtily as he said that._

" _Don't apologize, it was great," Blaine replied, still smiling._

" _All your friends were here tonight. The Warblers, Sebastian. They were all loving it."_

" _Come here," Blaine said, gesturing for him to come over. Kurt walked over as Blaine said, "Give me your hand. Hold it to your heart."_

" _Just like the song?"_

" _Like the song," Blaine was talking in more of a whisper now. "Kurt, Sebastian doesn't mean_ anything _to me. And you were right. Our first time shouldn't be like that. I was drunk and I'm sorry." Blaine seemed to be very near tears._

" _Well it sure beats the last time you were drunk and made out with Rachel," Kurt said to lighten the mood a little. Blaine sighed and hung his head. Kurt laughed at him just a little. "But I'm sorry too. I wanted so much to be your gay bar superstar, but try as I might, I'm still just a silly romantic."_

" _It's not silly," Blaine whispered and then kissed him with all the pent up passion he'd been feeling since he walked away from Kurt at the bar._

" _You take my breath away," Kurt whispered, trying to get his breath back a little. "And not just now, but tonight on that stage. I was so proud to be with you."_

" _I hope so," Blaine choked out, tears welling in his eyes. "I want you to be." He smiled, while his eyes were still glistening with tears. "Um, Artie is having an after party at Breadsticks. Would you accompany me?"_

" _No," Kurt answered, momentarily shocking Blaine. "I want to go to your house."_

" _Okay," Blaine whispered back._

 _What ensued from there was probably Kurt's top favorite memory from ever. They had arrived at Blaine's and rushed in the door and up to his room. From there everything slowed down as they both became timid rather quickly. They had taken time undressing each other, while exploring the newfound freedoms with each other. They fell into bed together and made love for the very first time. And while it was far from perfect, as the first time rarely is, it was perfect for them. Kurt remembered waking up the next morning with his arms wrapped around his one true love. It had felt perfect. So right, like he was never meant to be anywhere else._

Kurt didn't realize that tears were streaming down his face until the jacket he was holding began to get damp. He used the jacket to wipe his eyes and lovingly folded it and set it aside. There was no way it was staying at McKinley to be worn by someone else in the future. It was going home with him. He already knew he would keep it for the rest of his life. He pulled himself together and went back to his task, smiling briefly over all the nostalgia one garment could bring.


	9. Chapter 9

_A/N Just warning you that this chapter has a lot of recap from canon._

 _And I also want to clear something up. I am just writing a story around what was already there to begin with in Season 6. I love Kurt and Blaine. In fact I love everyone in this story with two major exceptions: I am not a big Karofsky fan and I really don't like Walter, for personal reasons. Though it isn't because he is older, I do think they should have given Kurt an actual viable option to fall for and then he chose Blaine anyway. However, since I am not one of the actual writers, it wasn't up to me. (If I had been one of the writers, 90% of the show would have been about Kurt and Blaine and it would have ceased to be Glee.) Anyways, the point I am getting at is that they are not in a happy place, so if one says or thinks something about the other, it is purely to advance the story and not because I want to bash one of them. I go back and forth about who is my favorite on about a minute to minute basis. 3_

* * *

The next few days had Blaine up to his eyeballs in what became known inside his head as "The Warbler Jane Project." Once he committed to seeing girls in the Warblers, he had taken the necessary steps to make sure that Jane was given the same opportunity as any of the boys at Dalton.

First that meant proposing to the Warbler Council the idea that girls should be allowed to try out at all. He was met with quite a bit of opposition. They even went so far as to suggest that there would be too much sexual tension if a girl was allowed to participate. Blaine tried to point out that most of them were gay, which was also met with a lot of opposition. He had no idea he had so many closet cases until that moment.

The Warblers, led by their esteemed leader, decided that in order for them to give Jane a chance to audition, they had to know if she was any good and worth changing their hundreds-year-old tradition. Blaine accepted that as a start and found Jane to tell her.

Jane was fairly non-plussed to have to go through a pre-audition phase to get to her actual audition. Blaine talked her into it by explaining how far back the tradition went and that it would be a major change. He did manage to get Jane on board with the idea, and even took her to see Rachel so that Rachel could coach her.

Jane blew all the Warblers and Blaine away in her audition. She was an exceptional singer and had so much stage presence that she managed to get the Warblers who were the most dead set against her to join her in singing and dancing. Even so, the Warbler Council ultimately decided against letting girls into the Warblers. Blaine realized that he would have to go to bat for Jane and threatened to quit if she was not made a member. Jane was pretty upset at having been treated this way and decided to take matters into her own hands.

Meanwhile at McKinley, the old guard had stepped back in to help recruit. Most of the old glee club from Kurt and Rachel's time had shown up. After looking high and low around the school, they managed to find a few students who wanted to join. Kurt found Rachel in the auditorium and told her that it was time for the very first rehearsal. The first new member of the club, Roderick, was with them and suggested that since he was the only member, they have the meeting right there.

"First of all, we have to have the first meeting in the choir room, it's tradition. And second of all you're not the only member. Someone new joined yesterday," Rachel replied.

"Wait, who?" Kurt asked. This is the first he was hearing about it. Just then Blaine stormed into the auditorium from backstage.

"I can not believe you did this! We sat down, we made rules. No poaching!" Blaine yelled at Rachel. For his part, Kurt was experiencing a heart flip flop at seeing his ex. It flipped over again when he realized how angry he was. Leave it to Rachel to leave him completely out of the loop. He really didn't even know what was happening.

Rachel went on to explain that the girl from Dalton had come to her wishing to transfer because the Warblers didn't want her. Kurt began to understand that Rachel wasn't allowed to say anything because the girl was waiting for her transfer papers to go through. It was the girl's decision, so it clearly wasn't actually poaching. This answer was not good enough for Blaine though. He was still completely pissed that his supposed friends had taken one of his kids.

"I just spent the last two days threatening to quit my job in order to convince everyone to let her in and as soon as I did she tells me she's leaving to join your team?! I was humiliated!" Blaine was trying to keep his calm and he did manage to start this little speech calmly, but was yelling again by the end of it. Kurt decided to try to reason with him and talk him down out of the angry zone.

"Blaine you have a full team and God knows how many other students at Dalton that would kill to join," Kurt said. He knew that Blaine could be made to see reason. He was a very reasonable person, although his passion sometimes did get the better of him. That is why it was very surprising and hurtful to Kurt that he turned his wrath on him instead.

"Don't act all cool and loving about this, Kurt. I'm sure you're very happy right now," Blaine said."I wouldn't be surprised if you made this all happen after seeing me with Dave." Kurt's jaw practically hit the floor. He couldn't believe how hurtful Blaine was being and he definitely couldn't believe he had decided to just throw his relationship right in his face. Kurt got ready to say something equally as hurtful, but was stopped when Roderick got uncomfortable and tried to leave. They all told him to stay, Blaine going so far as to say, "You should see what kind of people your coaches are. This whole friendly competition thing? It's over," and then he stormed out.

Kurt told Rachel to take Roderick to the choir room and meet up with Jane there, and that he would be in in just a minute. He paced the length of the stage a few times trying to calm down. First of all, even seeing Blaine had set his heart into a tailspin and then to have Blaine accuse him of things that he wasn't even privy to the knowledge of had just hurt. Hurt was quickly replaced by anger and he had to get himself under control before he could even think about trying to be with students. He took deep, calming breaths and even did a few standing yoga poses to get his heart rate back to normal. He did eventually calm down enough to go act happy around the kids.

Once he was with the kids, the act dissolved and he was actually happy. They already had four members just in the time that all the old New Directions had been around. Santana, Brit, and Quinn had found two cheerleaders to join, twins, Madison and Mason. All the knew kids had really good voices and it was such a great start! The new kids already seemed to be gelling as a group as they all sang together on the way out to the bonfire.

Things were going really well for Kurt and Rachel and the bonfire was actually pretty fun. Of course Sue was being a little insane, but what else was knew? She was yelling crazy things about Michael Bolton into a megaphone.

Kurt was riding pretty high until he happened to turn around. There were Blaine and Karofsky sitting on the back of Karofsky's truck. Karofsky had his arm around Blaine and Blaine was smiling up at him. Kurt wondered if every time he saw this he was going to feel like someone knocked the wind out of him. Just then Blaine glanced over and got a decidedly uncomfortable look on his face. Kurt wished that it was because he was sad that they weren't together but felt that it was more likely that Blaine was still mad at him and wasn't happy to see him.

* * *

Dave had dragged Blaine out to the McKinley bonfire, though Blaine didn't really want to be there. He was a little embarrassed about his meltdown to Rachel and Kurt that afternoon. When he really thought about what Rachel had said, he realized that maybe she wasn't really in the wrong, though he still thought she should have discussed it with him.

The first thing Blaine had noticed was that a ton of the New Directions were in town. He was a bit hurt that no one had thought to let him know that they were around. He saw Sam quite a bit, but he was also really good friends with Tina and she didn't even bother to call him? Not to mention that he and Mercedes had lived together in New York. Then he caught Rachel and Kurt looking at him like he was insane and his anger started flaring again.

After the fireworks were over, Dave and Blaine got out of the truck to go home as Sam walked past.

"Hey, Buddy, you going to Breadsticks?" Sam asked.

"Huh?" Blaine said looking at Dave. Were they planning to do that?

"Yeah, most of the old New Directions are around and we are all going out to welcome the new kids and also because everyone wants to hang out. You coming?" Sam asked, as if Blaine should have known all about it by now.

"I-don't think I am invited," Blaine replied. The anger was replaced by hurt again. Only this hurt was much worse. He realized that he was the competition, but he was still a friend. He had graduated with most of those guys.

"Of course you're invited," Sam replied as if it was obvious. You are a New Direction just as much as anyone else. "You should come!"

For his part, Dave was really understanding. While he really wanted Blaine to come home so they could watch a movie and cuddle, he realized that these were Blaine's best friends and he should go hang out with them. Blaine told Sam that maybe he would see him there.

On the way back to their apartment, he went back and forth about twenty times about whether he should go out to Breadsticks. He realized that Rachel and Kurt were going to be there and that would be totally awkward, but he really did want to see everyone else.

He finally decided to just go and say hi and then he would leave. Only once he got to Breadsticks and was looking in, he realized that Kurt and Rachel were basically holding court. Everyone but them were seated and the two of them were singing and dancing around everyone. There would be no way to avoid either of them to see everyone, even for a minute or two. He left dejected without ever having gone in.

"Hey," he said to Dave, upon arriving back at the apartment.

"Hi!" Dave answered, glad to see that he'd decided to come home. "That was fast!"

"Yeah, I didn't really feel like it after all," Blaine said with a sigh. He wasn't really lying, because he really didn't feel like being wherever Kurt and Rachel were right now. He had taken all that time helping Rachel get over her major disaster of a television show and he felt like he was repaid by being lied to by her. Kurt was a whole different ball of wax. He didn't really even know how to feel about Kurt anymore. What he did know what a bunch of his friends were around and he was feeling like an outsider.

Dave saw that Blaine was unhappy and didn't know what to do. He wanted to help but it seemed like every time he helped it was just a bandaid until the next time that Blaine ran into Kurt. Dave had seen them looking at each other at the bonfire. He knew that sooner or later he was going to have to address whatever was going on between the two of them. He couldn't ignore it forever. He just wasn't ready to face reality yet. He wanted to be with Blaine so badly and kept hoping that things would click eventually.

"So...do you want to do something?" Dave asked. "It's still early. We could watch a movie and order pizza or we could go to Scandals or…"

"I"m not all that hungry, but I would watch something with you," Blaine answered. Dave knew that Blaine needed to eat. He often didn't seem to care about food after Kurt was around. So he went ahead and order pizza with everything that Blaine liked on it and thought maybe he could coax him to eat it once he arrived.

Blaine really didn't care what they watched so Dave decided to put in _Animal House._ He thought maybe he could get Blaine to laugh his way out of his melancholy. Blaine curled up by Dave and watched the movie with him. Of course his thoughts kept straying back to the bonfire and all the people who were having fun without him. He missed a lot of the movie until a text came in on his phone.

 **Blaine where are you?** Tina texted.

 _At home, why?_ Blaine texted back.

 **Sam said you were coming out to Breadsticks. Everyone wants to see you.** She replied. This made Blaine smile for the first time since he'd run into Sam.

 _Rachel, Kurt, and I kind of got into an argument today and I didn't really think they would want me around._ He answered.

 **Well I do. So do Sam, Mercedes, Santana, Brittany, Puck, Artie, and Quinn. Everyone has asked about you. We know Rachel can be insane. And we know you and Kurt are...well...you know. Anyways, we want you to meet us tomorrow for breakfast at the Lima Bean. Please?** Tina asked.

 _Absolutely!_ Blaine answered with a grin. Dave glanced at him and was a little worried that Kurt had put that smile on his face. He glanced down at his phone and realized he was texting with Tina and had to hold in a sigh of relief. After Blaine and Tina agreed on a time for breakfast he put his phone down by the half eaten pizza on the coffee table and realizing he was pretty hungry, grabbed a slice. His friends hadn't chosen Kurt over him, life was okay again. He realized that is what he was the most worried about. Kurt was friends with all of them first, but they had become Blaine's closest friends too. He was still great friends with some of the Warblers, but none of them were around. They were all in college or grad school, not anywhere close to Lima. Anyway, it was good to know that his McKinley friends still wanted him around.


	10. Chapter 10

Kurt ended up leaving Breadsticks pretty early that night. Rachel was making him sing and dance with her and his heart was completely not in it after seeing Blaine and Karofsky together. He realized that they were together and that they were going to be places, but it just hurt seeing them like that.

He came into his house and found his dad sitting on the couch watching television with all the lights off. Carole was still at work and his dad had always enjoyed watching tv in the dark for some reason.

"Hey," Kurt said by way of greeting.

"Hi, Kiddo. How was the bonfire?" Burt asked.

"Oh you know...it was fine," Kurt replied quietly. He sat down in a chair and tried to figure out what his dad was watching. It appeared to be something about men in the woods. It did not look thrilling to Kurt at all.

"Fine?" Burt replied. "That bonfire was one of the sports-related things you actually enjoyed in high school. Is it different?" Burt asked.

"No, pretty much the same as always."

"And a bunch of your friends are in town, which should have made it even better. I thought you would come home completely pumped. What's up, Kid?" Burt knew Kurt had been actually looking forward to today, so he was completely confused with how dejected his son seemed.

"I don't know," Kurt sighed. "Maybe I should have stayed in New York."

"What happened? You seemed really jazzed about the glee club this morning and were looking forward to tonight," Burt knew what he suspected happened, but he wasn't going to let Kurt go until he said it aloud. Kurt needed some healing, and Burt knew that his first step in healing was to be honest with himself.

"Blaine and Karofsky were there," Kurt finally told him. "They seemed so happy together. It was heart wrenching. Plus there is the fact that Blaine thinks Rachel and I stole one of his glee kids. Which we didn't...and…"

"And? Kurt what is going on here? I have no idea what even happened between you two. All you told me is that you guys were too young. Somehow that doesn't seem like all there is to it. Especially considering every time you run into Blaine you get inexplicably sad. You clearly weren't ready to be done with him," Burt rambled a little, but he needed to know what was going on with his son. And Blaine. Truth be told, Burt had considered Blaine his other son.

Kurt just looked at Burt. He really didn't want to explain what happened to his dad. He knew Burt was going to be disappointed in him. He could beat himself up enough for the both of them. Burt wasn't giving up though. He could wait out his son, God knew he'd done it before. He'd been waiting Kurt out since he was a baby.

Kurt finally sighed. "I was an ass, Dad. I'm not sure what the hell I was thinking. Blaine was moving forward with wedding plans, but we were fighting _all the time._ I told him I thought we should call it quits before we hated each other. I didn't mean it. At all," Kurt was crying silently now. "I was just so angry at all the fighting. I don't think I believed he would ever really leave. He said...he said-" Kurt had to stop because his crying was becoming uncontrollable at his point.

Burt came over in front of Kurt and pulled him up into a warm embrace. He just let Kurt cry until he calmed down some. He pulled Kurt over to the couch and sat next to him and waited. He knew Kurt needed to finish his story, but all in his own time.

"He said he'd never forgive me," Kurt whispered almost inaudibly. Burt ran his hand over his face thinking. He needed to get his words just right or Kurt would think it was just lip service.

"Kiddo, I don't think he meant it," he finally said.

"I think he did," Kurt replied.

"Well, let me ask you this...did you mean it when you told him you wanted to break things off?"

"No, of course not! I was just angry. I said that already," Kurt exclaimed.

"Isn't it possible that Blaine was just angry too?" Burt asked gently.

"No! He would never-" Kurt cut himself off as what his dad said actually began to sink in. "But he's with _him_ now," is what he finally said.

"Well, that's a whole different ball of wax. I think there is going to be a reckoning there. They jumped into something way too fast. It's like Dave has never heard the term 'rebound.' And as much as Dave Karofsky is NOT my favorite person, I feel kind of bad for him actually," Burt responded. Kurt looked at Burt as if he was insane. Burt had really never accepted Karofsky, even after he and Kurt had become friends after Karofsky's suicide attempt. Burt could not get over the fact that Dave had repeatedly hurt his son. All of this gave Kurt a lot to think about. Burt waited while Kurt worked stuff out for himself.

"I just don't know that I can believe it will all work out. Maybe Karofsky is a rebound...but they've been together for awhile and they don't seem to having any problems."

"Do you love Blaine?" Burt changed tactics.

"Of course!" Kurt exclaimed.

"Do you trust that what you had was real?"

"Yes," Kurt whispered.

"Then you are going to have to continue to trust what you had and move forward. The most important thing you can have right now is hope, Kurt," Burt summed up. Kurt actually found a small smile was forming on his face. He did know what he and Blaine had was real. He would follow his father's advice and just have hope.

"Thanks, Dad."

"Anytime Kurt. I'm always here, whatever you need."


	11. Chapter 11

Blaine joined Tina and the gang for breakfast at the Lima Bean the next morning at 9 AM. Dave had football practice, so he was not able to come along. Blaine figured that was probably better. He loved his friends but they were the biggest gossips in the entire world. He knew every little nuance of him being around Dave would go straight back to Kurt and he wasn't really ready to be on display like that. Both he and Dave were exceptionally cuddly people and Dave tended to have no qualms about being super affectionate in public. Blaine didn't have a problem with it either, but as mad as he was a Kurt right now, he didn't really need to add fuel to the fire.

"So Blaine, what's it like coaching the Warblers?" Mercedes asked.

"Yeah, I thought they didn't have a coach," Tina chimed in.

"They had to get one because of the scandals," Sam piped in, already knowing all about it.

"When are you coming back to NYC? It sucks that everyone left," Artie added.

"When are you going to get back together with your unicorn friend," Brittany asked.

Blaine had not been able to get a word in edgewise since he had sat down. He had stopped trying as these were just a few of the questions and comments thrown in his direction. Everyone seemed to be caught up on everyone else and all attention was focused on him. "Hey, all of you, why don't you give him a chance to answer one question before you ask ten more," Quinn finally put in. Blaine shot her a grateful look. He started answering all their questions about the Warblers and realized that he had started gushing a little. Well, that was okay. He was proud of his guys and what they were accomplishing together. He pointedly ignored Brittany's question and when she went to ask it again, Santana gave her a look and she stopped.

Blaine had an absolute blast a breakfast. There was something about being with this big, crazy group of people that felt like coming home. One of the things he really missed about New York that had very little to do with Kurt was the camaraderie of a big group of great friends. Since he had been home he didn't have much of that. And just when he was starting to get it again with Rachel, he lost it because of rivalry. He wished all of these guys would just stay put in Lima for awhile so he could enjoy being with people older than 17 on a regular basis.

The icing on the cake came when Sam and Puck suggested that the guys go to the batting cages after lunch. By then Dave was done with practice and they had insisted that he come along and do some "guy bonding." This wasn't the first time that Blaine and Dave had gone to the batting cages. Dave loved pretty much all sports and he would drag Blaine out to run track or play catch or whatever every chance he got. For that reason, Blaine had actually gotten fair at batting and the other guys were impressed. While they took turns batting, Artie was keeping a running tally of who was in the lead. Blaine and Dave ended up tying for the most hits, though Blaine hit a lot of what would have been grounders while Dave hit a lot of what would have been home runs.

They parted ways with the other guys and went home to make a simple supper of grilled chicken salad.

"That was really fun hanging out with those guys," Dave said over dinner.

"Yeah, I didn't realize how much I missed them," Blaine replied.

"I can see why. I kinda wish I had stayed at McKinley and earned their friendships back when I had the chance. I didn't really think any of you guys would accept me after the way I treated...well all of you," Dave was clearly going to say Kurt, but he changed his tune when he saw the look on Blaine's face. Ever since that girl ended up leaving Dalton, Blaine had been very touchy about bringing up Kurt's name and Dave had no desire to rock the boat.

"Yeah, slushy facials weren't a particularly fun experience for any of us, but we always seemed to be willing to give people about ten thousand chances. I wish you would have stuck around too. I would have liked to have known the real you a lot sooner," Blaine said with a smile.

Dave smiled back but still wasn't sure Blaine would have given him the time of day back then. Blaine was Kurt's champion in high school and Dave was the guy who was hurting Kurt. And then Dave was the guy who fell hard for Kurt and tried to take him away from Blaine, not that it succeeded in any way. Dave had to fight down the feeling that these two probably belonged together. He wasn't ready to think about that yet.

* * *

Things had gone well for Kurt for the rest of the weekend too. He had had a nice weekend with Burt and Carole and every time he would think of Blaine he would use his new mantra of "hope." He even cut it out of newspaper clippings and stuck it to his mirror under a picture of himself and Blaine, just like he had done with "Courage" in high school.

If it hadn't been for Sunday night, both men would have headed back to school on Monday feeling great. But of course, fate had to throw a wrench in their way as usual. They both decided to visit the sheet music store at the same time.

"How do you call yourself a sheet music store if you don't have the soundtrack to _Smash_?!" Kurt mumbled out loud to himself that evening at the music store.

"I know, it's like a show choir hate crime," said Blaine's voice. He came into view across the sheet music bin. Kurt's heart did that little flip flop thing that he'd come to know so well. They walked to the end of the bin where they could see each other better.

"Hi Blaine," Kurt said with a small smile. This was an unexpected and yet welcome surprise...until "annnddd Dave." _Yuck, why me_ , was Kurt's next thought.

"Don't tell me that we have to figure out alternating sheet music days," Blaine responded when he saw the look on Kurt's face as Kurt looked at Dave.

"Nooo...no...of course not. It's fine!" Kurt said, trying to be positive about seeing his fiance with another man... _ex-fiance_ , he thought, somewhat bitterly. Then Dave started rambling about helping Blaine with his song selections but wanting him to stay away from Broadway. Kurt laughed uncomfortably and couldn't help but notice that as Dave talked Blaine also looked decidedly uncomfortable.

"Um, it's good to see you Kurt," Blaine said as Dave led him away. They continued to steal glances at each other the whole rest of the time they were in the music store. Kurt caught Blaine looking at him with a look that could only be described as longing. As soon as Blaine realized Kurt had caught him staring, he immediately looked away and he and Karofsky left soon after.

* * *

The next morning found Kurt sitting with Rachel on the floor of the choir room looking for song selections for the week's lesson.

"I ran into Blaine and Karofsky last night. Then I spent the rest of the night having a fantasy of singing "It's Too Late" all over town." Rachel made a sympathetic sounding noise. "Hey! Why don't we use Carole King's seminal break up album _Tapestry_ as this week's lesson?"

"Um, yeah, it's brilliant, but it's sort of a downer don't you think? If we're going to do a break up album it has to be Jagged Little Pill because it's modern and edgy and angry and isn't that the kind of energy that we want these new kids expressing?" Kurt countered with how they could actually be teaching the kids something if they ventured into music that the kids didn't already know. They started to fight until Kurt came up with the brilliant idea of doing a mash up week and using both. They both got excited about it and started to plan.

* * *

Meanwhile at Dalton, Blaine was looking at pictures of himself and Kurt on his phone. After he had run into Kurt the night before he kept scrolling through the gallery on his phone of all the pictures of him and Kurt. There were so many selfies and shots that they had someone else take.

He forced himself to stop and look at pictures of him and Dave instead. That is when he realized he only had two pictures of himself and Dave on his phone and they were both at organized events where they were completely posed. And both of them had been sent to him...by Dave. This wasn't good at all. He was going to have to make a concerted effort to get more pictures with him and Dave.


	12. Chapter 12

Kurt's week started off bad with running into Blaine and Karofsky and got worse. The mash up week between Carole King and Alanis Morissette was completely inspired but he and Rachel could not seem to get on the same page with their teaching. They ended up having an argument in front of the kids and all the old New Directions who had stuck around to help. They were trying to figure out when to do their mash up. Because they could not figure it out, Santana offered for her and Brittany to do an example mash up, which they completely took them up on.

The next day when Santana and Brittany did their mash up, it sounded amazing. Kurt was really pleased at how they managed to work it out until the end. Santana had decided to use that moment to propose to Brittany and Kurt lost it a little. He couldn't help but speak up and tell them that they were too young to get married, just like Blaine and him. Santana did not take kindly to the criticism during her proposal and Kurt realized that he had put himself in a place where he never wanted to be...on Santana' shit list. Tina managed to save the day by telling them they were perfect for each other, though Kurt knew something bad was coming.

Santana later cornered Kurt in the hall and basically ripped him a new one. She told him all the reasons why Blaine probably did not want to marry Kurt and it was really hurtful. The real problem was that he knew he didn't have a leg to stand on in fighting back because everything she was saying was, while inaccurate, completely justified. Kurt had ruined what should have been the most special moment of their lives up to that point and he felt really bad.

The next day found him in the auditorium helping Brittany make an engagement present for Santana. He felt the need to help her considering what he had done. They were filling a giant heart with Mounds bars.

"Why are you using Mounds bars? Aren't jelly beans more traditional?" Kurt asked.

"Well, Mounds bars are the lesbians of candies, jelly beans are the gays, of course," Brittany answered. "I used my better than yours math brain to figure out exactly how many minutes Santana and I have spent together and I'm putting the mini Mounds bars into this giant jar to give to her as an engagement present."

"I am so sorry that I interrupted your proposal," Kurt told her as Brittany walked over to get more candy. "I'm bitter. I have this firm belief that people shouldn't get married until they're thirty. But I believe in you and Santana. You remind me of Blaine and me," Kurt finished with a smile.

"Except for the fact that she and I are actually still together," Brittany replied taking more candy.

"I like to believe that we're just on a hiatus," Kurt defended.

"And I'd like to believe that Lord Tubbington isn't secretly videotaping me while I'm in the shower and selling it on Craig's List, doesn't make it true," Brittany replied. Only Brittany could get away with an answer like that. Kurt kind of nodded in acquiescence, even though he thought that Brittany was unrealistically weird about her cat.

"Okay, I hate to be the one to tell you this, but, um, he's moving in with Dave Karofsky. You know, Blaine, not Lord Tubbington. I was just helping them decorate yesterday." (Dave had finally convinced Blaine to move more of his stuff in and that they should tell people. So he had asked Brittany to help him decorate the bedroom as a present. It had certainly taken Blaine by surprise considering Brittany had decided to completely remove their bed, and decorate the bedroom for a ten-year-old girl.) "You need to start getting over him," Brittany went on. Okay, move on! Start seeing somebody else. I'm sure there is another person in the world who will understand and appreciate your particular brand of eccentricity."

"I know," Kurt said, completely crushed by this additional news. He stumbled a little before he could get out, "but I just feel like that if I start seeing someone else or even just go on a date that...I'll be admitting that it's over. And…I-I-I don't want to do that."

"You know," Brittany said bringing over some candy. "These Mounds bars are delicious...if you get to eat them. If you hold them in your hand hoping one day you will get to eat them, they're going to melt. And then you will look like someone just pooped in your hand. Don't let waiting for things to maybe work out with Blaine turn you into the guy who looks like somebody just pooped in your hand." Brittany was in all seriousness in her little speech and at first Kurt didn't know how to take it. He wanted to laugh, but he also wanted to cry. In her own strange way, he knew what she was saying made as much sense as anyone who would have put it a little more gently and a whole lot less grossly. He finally cracked a smile.

"I've missed you Brit," he said as he hugged her.

"I know, I'm awesome!" she replied, laughing.

* * *

That night Kurt sat in front of his computer trying to decide whether or not to start an online dating profile. He had let what Brittany said resonate with him and wander through his head throughout the rest of the day. He realized that Blaine might never come back. And while that was a thought he almost couldn't bear, he realized that he needed to start moving forward. As he was in Ohio, that pretty much meant online dating, as he wasn't about to go to Scandals to try and meet someone. For a gay man in Lima, that pretty much left the internet.

He had open on his computer. He had briefly considered Grindr, but he wasn't really looking to hook up with someone and he wasn't ready for anything quite that intense. He heaved a sigh and started filling out the online form. He picked a picture of himself that he felt really captured his fashion sense. And he filled in all the questions. He decided to pick "friendship with maybe more," as his choice for what type of relationship he was looking for. With tears in his eyes, he hit the submit button. Why did this feel so much like cheating? Blaine was probably off having sex with Karofsky at that very moment. That thought made him even more depressed and he closed down his laptop and went to lay on his bed to have a good cry.

* * *

The next day started off okay and Kurt decided to go get coffee before heading to school. The line at the Lima Bean was ridiculously long but he had time to wait. He had been there in line for about 10 minutes when he started looking around. He glanced back at the line behind him and was glad that he hadn't arrived later as it only seemed to be getting longer. His was about to turn around when he saw someone very familiar. Blaine was standing toward the back of the line and he had actually been looking at Kurt so he smiled and gave a small wave. Then he glanced down at his watch nervously. Kurt realized that he was probably worried about being late, as he had to drive out to Dalton and took pity on him. As soon as Blaine glanced back up, Kurt gestured for him to come join him near the front of the line. Blaine cocked his head in question, but Kurt just shook his head yes.

"Thanks so much," I thought I was going to have to leave without my coffee," Blaine said as soon as he arrived by Kurt.

"Of course, no problem," Kurt answered, somewhat upset by how surprised Blaine seemed by such a small gesture of friendship. "We are still friends, right?" he asked.

"Yes, of course!" Blaine answered right away. They stood in awkward silence for a moment before Blaine finally said, "You really are helping me out here though. I have Tina coming out to teach the Warblers about theatricality in a bit and I need to get out there." Kurt looked at him with complete surprise and Blaine continued, "I know it isn't really a skill an acapella group needs, but I got such a more well rounded experience with performance once I went to McKinley, and I would like to give that to my guys in case any of them ever want to pursue a career in performance."

"I think that's great," Kurt replied. "I guess I'm just surprised that you picked Tina for this particular lesson."

"Why? She is actually really good with this stuff. You always told me she killed it with the Gaga lessons, and I've seen it myself on a few occasions," Blaine replied. "Who would you have picked?"

"Um...well...me," Kurt replied a bit embarrassed.

"You would come out and teach the Warblers a lesson?" Blaine asked completely surprised by Kurt's answer.

"Sure," Kurt said. He quickly added, "I was one too, after all," as he caught Blaine looking at him with a very strange expression.

"Well, that's very sweet of you considering everything," Blaine replied. "But don't you think it would be a massive conflict of interest?"

"Oh, yeah, I guess it would," Kurt said with a laugh. "I don't really want to be number one on Rachel's hit list, so I guess I can't be about helping the competition. Or even appear to be helping as this wouldn't really have anything to do with what the Warblers will do in competition." Blaine laughed a little at that and they realized they were at the front of the line. Blaine insisted on buying Kurt's coffee, as a thank you for saving him from the line. It brought old memories up from high school for both of them and they parted ways very quickly after their coffees were ready.

* * *

Seeing Blaine had made Kurt wonder what the heck he was thinking by starting to try to date. There was absolutely going to be no one else in the world for him and he was determined to delete that profile as soon as he went home. He managed to make it through the day and he just had to get through glee club. Unfortunately for him, it was time for the students to sing their mash ups. Mason and Jane had planned an incredibly sentimental mash up of _Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow_ and _Head Over Feet_. The whole song was absolutely perfect and had Kurt thinking of all the best parts of his relationship with Blaine. He was crying by the end.

He was so angry at what had happened with his relationship that he did the unthinkable. He lashed out at the kids, even though they had done a great job. He criticized their singing and lack of choreography. Rachel got mad and made him leave, which she was well within her rights to do. However, at the time that didn't calm him down. It made things even worse. He drove away from school completely pissed off at the entire world. He didn't go home. He ended up driving out to the lake and just sat looking out over the water until he could calm himself down. He had had to brush away several angry tears out of his eyes until they stopped being angry and he was just hurt. He didn't want to be here in this place emotionally at all. By now, he and Blaine should have been married and living in New York in complete blissful happiness.

He finally pulled himself together enough to drive home. He pulled his laptop out of his bag and sat on the couch ready to delete his online dating account. He pulled it up and realized he had some winks and some guys had said hi. He was just about to shut it down when a new message popped up: "Hey, how's it going?" from a guy named Walter. _Cute_ , he thought, looking at his picture. The guy looked to be a little older than Kurt but he supposed that was okay. He also had a weird instragram filter applied to his picture, which Kurt found kind of charming. He remembered why he had done this in the first place and he figured it couldn't hurt to say hello back.

 _Hey, yourself_ , Kurt typed.

 **Hi! I didn't expect you to be online** , Walter typed back.

 _Honestly, I was just going to delete my profile_ , Kurt replied.

 **Free trial run out?** Walter guessed. That made Kurt laugh a little and he replied that no he was just still dealing with something. Walter answered with another thing that made Kurt laugh and they fell into easy conversation. Kurt eventually looked at the time and realized they had been chatting for over an hour and he had had a really good time. He didn't even know it was possible for someone besides Blaine to make him laugh this much. They had gotten onto the subject of _The Golden Girls_ and it was really fun. Kurt agreed not to shut down his account and that they could continue talking. They made a plan to both be online the next evening.

The next day he apologized to Rachel for losing it in glee and she was actually fine with it. The kids had actually taken what he had said to heart because they wanted to be good and win, which Kurt took as a really positive sign.

He spent the next couple days emerging himself in glee and talking to Walter online. By Saturday things were actually looking up. Then he got the weirdest text from the most surprising source and didn't know what to think.

* * *

 _A/N Haha sorry for the cliffhanger, but no worries...all will become clear soon._


	13. Chapter 13

For his part, Blaine had enjoyed running into Kurt at the sheet music store, which was completely confusing to him. He couldn't dwell on it much as he had quite a few things planned for the week. Monday evening he attended a sports banquet with Dave at his college. He made sure to take a few selfies with him. They were both dressed very nicely and he needed more pics of them on his phone. He actually had a really nice time with Dave.

When they arrived home, Brittany was inside their apartment, which made Blaine ridiculously nervous. Every time Brittany showed up crazy things happened.

"What are you doing here," Blaine asked her with a smile, trying to cover up his trepidation. He had actually been planning a nice simple evening with Dave, which he was hoping would end up with some action in the bedroom. He still wasn't about to tell Dave he loved him, but he was ready to move on from just making out and he was planning to convince Dave. He didn't actually think it was going to take too much convincing as Dave had been particularly cuddly lately. He never seemed to have his hands far from Blaine when they were together. He had also just agreed to move all of the rest of his stuff into the apartment and start telling people they were living together, so that needed to be celebrated.

"Well," Dave answered for Brittany, "I decided to let Brittany decorate the bedroom as a surprise for you since you are 'officially' moving in." _Oh dear God_ , Blaine thought. He prepared himself for whatever disaster was in the bedroom and they went in. She had outdone herself this time. Brittany had literally removed the bed and put tye-died rainbows on every surface she could find.

"Wow!" he said trying to sound pleased. "Where's the bed?" he asked, tackling the biggest problem first. She said something about a u-haul mounting a moped as her answer and Blaine shook his head. He finally got her to admit that she had had the neighbors help her move it downstairs to storage. They lived next door to a couple of really girl-obsessed frat guys and he didn't suspect it took much convincing for a cute girl like Brittany to get their help.

So on what was supposed to be their romantic evening, they ended up moving their bed back upstairs. That, plus the fact that Brittany apparently thought that being a gay man was synonymous with being a ten-year-old girl, had taken away any romantic feelings that he had been having. All he could think was that he hoped when he turned off the lights nothing glowed in the dark, which he found out was a valid concern when he looked up at the ceiling and saw those glow in the dark stars made into a penis constellation. He just lay in bed staring at them as they eventually lost their light and things finally faded into complete darkness. What was Dave's weird obsession with having Brittany decorate things? He'd actually come to like the living room, but he didn't think there was any way he was going to be able relax in here, so that was going to be a problem. Luckily, between the two of them, they were completely booked with separate things for the rest of the week, so he wasn't really going to have to worry about discussing it with Dave for at least a week.

* * *

A couple days later Blaine had Tina out to Dalton to teach the guys about theater make-up and how to be theatrical. He really enjoyed watching Tina sharing all the tips she was learning at Brown University's theater school. When given the opportunity, Tina proved how sweet she actually was. She never seemed to lose the need to fight for her position, even in their friendship circle, so it had led her to be a little obnoxious.

There wasn't a hint of Tina's obnoxiousness as she kindly helped the guys do crazy make-up. Blaine threw in some of what he learned at NYADA and they also learned some combat skills as well. They didn't even choose to break for lunch, as they were having such a great time. Blaine made sure to have the cafeteria bring some sandwiches in because he didn't want to the guys to go hungry for the rest of the school day.

After Tina's lesson, he really had to get busy coordinating schedules and making sure hotel rooms were booked and that all was going to run smoothly on Saturday. He had taken a cue from the fact that the old New Directions always came back to help the McKinley glee club and had enlisted some of the old Warblers to come in and help his guys. He'd seen how well the guys had responded to having Sebastian teach them and he'd decided to have a small Warbler reunion with the purpose of helping to rebuild this team of Warblers. They were going to spend the day coaching the Warblers on harmonies and dancing and then the old Warblers were going to gather at a hotel for a party.

The one thing that Blaine could not decide on was whether or not to invite Kurt to the party. Obviously Kurt could not come and help with the team, but he had been a Warbler and he was right here. It would be so easy for him to come and Blaine was sure some of the old Warblers would enjoy seeing him. Blaine was having a really hard time because he felt he ought to invite him as a friend, but at the same time he knew he would not have as good a time if Kurt was there because he would just be thinking about him being there the whole time. He finally ran the question by Wes and got a decent answer. Wes had said that they were really coming to help with the new team and Kurt wouldn't be doing that. And also, even though they all liked Kurt, they were coming to see Blaine and they wanted him to be comfortable. So Blaine gave up the idea of asking Kurt to come and felt settled.

* * *

By the time Saturday had rolled around, Blaine had everything in shape. The Warblers were assembled in the choir room and Blaine was standing out in front of the school, ready to greet his friends. They showed up at the appointed time and there were hugs all around. Blaine was over the moon that a bunch of his old friends had arrived. He escorted them to the choir room, where his students were sitting on the couches waiting.

"Warblers, I would like to introduce you to some very important people. I went to school with almost all of these guys and their talent is legendary. So allow me to introduce you," he said as he went down the line and introduced each one. "This is Wes Montgomery, he was the head warbler when I was a sophomore. He is currently pre-med at Johns Hopkins. This is David Thompson. He is studying dance at Juilliard in New York. This is Trent Nixon, he is studying law at Yale-"

"-But with an emphasis on social work, I'm not going to be a scummy lawyer," Trent had to cut in, which made everyone laugh a little.

"This is Nick Duval, he is studying business at Northwestern. This is Jeff Sterling, he is studying theater also at Northwestern. And you guys already know Sebastian Smythe, who is studying dance at UCLA."

"Actually I transferred to NYU this year," Sebastian answered. "Still studying dance, though, so I hope you guys are ready to sweat today!" The guys, remembering Sebastian from last time laughed a little, though they absolutely knew he wasn't kidding.

"Okay, so the way this is going to work is that I have you all broken into vocal range. We have the basic four ranges covered here and they are going to work with you on your different parts. While some of you are singing, some of you will be dancing with David and Sebastian. I'm glad to see you all took me seriously when I told you to wear your gym clothes because Sebastian wasn't kidding about the sweating. So let's break you guys up and get this going!" Blaine finished up.

The rest of the day was absolutely amazing in Blaine's book. He was so glad to see his old friends mentoring his students. It was one of the best things Blaine had ever seen. The only thing that was a little weird was at lunch.

He was sitting by himself at a table waiting for his friends to join him after getting food.

"Hey, Killer," Sebastian sat down next to him on one side. Trent sat down on the other side.

"Doe Face over there said you aren't planning to have Kurt come out to the party tonight," Sebastian went on. Instead of answering him, Blaine turned to Trent with a question.

"Why do you let him call you that," Blaine asked Trent.

"Huh, I don't know," Trent answered. "Maybe because he has nicknames for everyone that he likes. I guess that's mine."

"He's Doe Face because he's like a deer caught in headlights," Sebastian answered.

"Yeah," Wes answered, sitting down on the other side of the table. "He calls me 'The Gavel,' which is weird because I wasn't even in the Warblers with him. People have told him that I loved my gavel, which is so not true."

"I'm Twinkle Toes," David said, sitting down next to Wes. "I don't even get it, he's the tap dancer."

"I'm Thing 1," Nick said, joining them.

"I'm Thing 2," said Jeff following up behind him. "What's his nickname for you, Blaine?"

"Uh, Killer, I guess?" Blaine answered to which they all laughed.

"Yeah you are!" Jeff yelled. They all laughed again and fell into light conversation, catching up on everyone's lives.

"You really ought to invite Kurt out to the party. Some of these guys would really love to see him," Sebastian whispered to Blaine.

"Not happening," Blaine replied quietly. "Let it go, Seb."

 _That's what you think_ , Sebastian thought. Sebastian had gotten Kurt's number from Trent and had already sent him a text telling him to get his ass out to the Marriott tonight for a Warbler party. Kurt had answered that he wasn't about to go to something that Blaine was throwing unless he was invited by Blaine, himself. Sebastian had made a convincing argument for him to show up, threatening to come to his house and introduce himself as Kurt's new boyfriend to his family and then embarrass the crap out of him if he didn't come. Kurt finally agreed to stop by and say hi, but that was it.

* * *

When the day with the younger Warblers had finished, the guys all went back to their respective homes or hotel rooms to get ready for the party. Blaine arrived at the Marriott meeting room first, to make sure everything was in place. The caterers had finished putting out appetizers just like Blaine had requested. Thanks to a couple of the Warblers who didn't mind throwing their parents money around, there was a full service bar set up in one corner. They also had a keyboard and a microphone set up so they could do impromptu songs.

Pretty soon all the guys arrived and dug into the food happily. They had all agreed to wear their Dalton Academy blazers so that they could get a picture for the alumni newsletter, so they all looked like they were back in high school. It had Blaine feeling a little choked up, seeing all of his old friends in uniform. After they took the picture, some of them shed their jackets immediately, having promised themselves they would never be forced into uniforms again. Blaine kept his on, as he was feeling especially nostalgic and had always loved his Dalton uniform. So that is how Kurt found him, when he walked in. Kurt sort of felt like he had walked in the door to the past when he saw the guys some in blazers, some simply in their white shirts, with or without ties.

"Uh, hello?" he asked quietly to the room in general. He had not been told about the uniform thing, so of course he was not dressed like them. It sort of felt like when he had first met all these guys, when he had gone to Dalton to spy, only this time he was dressed in black skinny jeans with a white button down shirt and a red pin-striped vest. Blaine's head snapped up, immediately when he heard Kurt's voice. He immediately looked accusingly at Sebastian, who got really interested in his drink all the sudden.

"Kurt!" several of the Warblers shouted. They all crowded around him to say hello and find out how he'd been. Blaine stayed rooted to the spot he was in and Sebastian wandered over to him.

"Why did you do this?" Blaine asked, under his breath.

"Because you two are being idiots and someone has to help show you the light," Sebastian answered.

"Oh for the love-" Blaine started to say, but he noticed that Kurt was making his way over to Blaine.

"Hey there," Kurt said to Blaine quietly. "Can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Um, sure," Blaine answered and they stepped out into the hall.

"I'm so sorry to just show up like this," Kurt said to Blaine, the minute they were alone. "I would never have come but Sebastian sort of made me. I was afraid if I didn't just show up and say hi, he would do something worse than me being here for a minute. I'm not going to stay, though, so no need to worry," he finished quickly.

"I'm sorry Sebastian roped you into this," Blaine finally answered. He had had a bit of trouble concentrating on what Kurt was saying because he looked so. damn. good. He also smelled amazing. Blaine was flexing his hands to keep him from reaching out and cupping Kurt's face.

"Well, anyways, I've said hi to everyone now, so I'm gonna take off," Kurt said. For his part, he was also having trouble keeping his hands to himself. It really had felt just like walking into the past. The past where this was his boyfriend and he loved him with a greater love than any high schooler should be capable of.

"Stay," Blaine said quietly, catching Kurt off guard.

"Blaine, you don't have to be a gentleman about this just because you have that blazer on. These are YOUR friends, and I know my being here can't be very comfortable for you," Kurt replied. He had not planned on this and his heart was trying to pound its way right out of his chest.

"No, you should stay, Kurt. The guys are happy to see you. You are their friend too. You're here anyway, just hang out," Blaine said, still trying to get control over the fact that his heart was reacting massively physically to Kurt's nearness. On the outside he appeared calm, however, and Kurt did agree to hang out for just a little bit.

They went back in and found that the guys were messing around with the music equipment. They took turns singing all the old Warbler standards and Kurt actually found himself having a good time. He had gone over to hang out with Nick and Jeff, while Blaine was with Wes and David. They weren't really all that near each other, and because of that, they had both managed to get their pounding hearts under control. The party continued and they managed to get Blaine and Sebastian to sing a duet of _When I Get You Alone_ , which Kurt found actually comical. That song reminded him of one of his least favorite moments that he had ever spent in Blaine's presence, and it was kind of cathartic.

Little did either of them know, but things were about to change from light and easy. The guys all started begging Kurt to sing _Blackbird._ Kurt wasn't planning to sing anything, especially that. They cajoled so much, though, that they finally managed to get him up to the microphone. Blaine, who was sitting with Sebastian, was not to keen to hear it.

"Wow," Sebastian breathed, as he listened to Kurt sing. "He's amazing," he continued, glancing over at Blaine. The song was almost over and when he looked at Blaine he realized he had two continuous tear streaks running down from his eyes. Sebastian immediately felt guilty at pushing the issue of Kurt and Blaine, though he realized how right he was, by how affected Blaine was by the song.

As soon as the song was over, he hopped up out of his seat, gesturing with his head for Blaine to go take care of himself as he created a diversion.

"Well, as non-depressing as that was," Sebastian said, sarcastically, pulling everyone's attention to him, as Blaine slipped out to the bathroom, "I am way too sober at a place where there is an open bar. It is time for drinking games, boys!" Sebastian requested a round of Jager shots and passed one out to everyone. "Slainte!" he said, downing his. Kurt figured that was his cue to leave. He had no intention of getting drunk in this group, not that he would get drunk in any group.

He said his goodbyes. Not seeing Blaine, he figured he would just text him a thank you from his car. He was massively surprised when Sebastian walked out with him. He escorted him all the way to his car.

"Um, you are not going home with me," Kurt said as he stood by his SUV.

"I just wanted to thank you for coming out tonight. Is that okay?" Sebastian answered a little huffily.

"Why was it so important to you that I be here?" Kurt asked. "You hate me."

"I do not hate you," Sebastian replied, to which Kurt raised an eyebrow at him. "Okay look," Sebastian explained. "I don't know what happened between you and Blaine, but someone needs to pull you guys' heads out of your asses. You are clearly meant to be together and I am just trying to help get you back on track.

"Why do you even care?" Kurt asked confused.

"Okay, I haven't told anyone this, but let's just say I met someone," Sebastian finally answered."And he's special. And I need to believe that love is real. And I know you guys love each other. So if you can't make it, there is no hope for any of us, right?" Kurt was oddly touched at Sebastian's answer.

"So you have an honest-to-God boyfriend not just someone you are trying to hook up with?" Kurt tried to keep the surprise out of his voice.

"We aren't even together yet. We're just talking. But he's the best. And I want to know that it can work out, you know?" Sebastian answered.

"That's really nice for you, Sebastian," Kurt finally said. "Love is real. Blaine and I do love each .other, but I screwed up. He can't forgive me, and I can't blame him for that. But thanks for having me come out here. It was nice to see everyone. Kay, I'm gonna go now." He sort of punched Sebastian on the arm, in lieu of a hug. They weren't really friends after all.

"Kay. Get back together with Blaine," Sebastian said as a goodbye.

When Sebastian got back into the meeting room, Blaine had gotten himself under control and was happily playing beer pong with the rest of the Warblers. Blaine succeeded in getting totally drunk and Wes made sure he slept it off in his hotel room.

* * *

 _A/N A spinoff with Sebastian and the mystery boy? Maybe it's already bouncing around in my head!_


	14. Chapter 14

Blaine spent a horrible Sunday working off the after effects of getting completely wasted Saturday night. They woke up early so that the Warblers could go back to their various lives and he had to see them all off. He did not know how any of them could eat the ridiculous breakfasts that they were downing at the hotel. He was only interested in his black coffee, and he was drinking that _very_ slowly.

"Hey, Killer," Sebastian veritably shouted as he sat down next to Blaine with a full plate of food. Blaine turned a light shade of green just looking at the food.

"How can you eat that?" Blaine asked miserably.

"First of all, you were the only one who actually tried to drink your weight in malt liquor last night," Sebastian replied laughing. "Secondly, even if I did, I am not the lightweight you are." Blaine laid his head down on the formica table, which was, thankfully, very cool to the touch. He thought his brain was probably leaking out of his ear, but as long as he could get the relief of something cool, he didn't care.

"Hey, Blaine, fun night last night!" Jeff said, joining them. _Why is everyone shouting at the top of their lungs_ , Blaine thought, miserably. "Where were you when Kurt sang _Blackbird_? He sounded just as good as the first time," he went on. Blaine didn't know if was possible for him to feel worse until that moment.

"He was there," Sebastian answered for Blaine. "You didn't seem him?" Sebastian was covering up for Blaine and he really appreciated it. "Then we walked Kurt out to his car. You know, so nothing happened to him. He's pretty girly after all." Blaine shot Sebastian a dirty look, but mouthed "thank you."

After everyone finished breakfast, everyone that was there saw Jeff and Nick off in the parking lot. They were driving back to Northwestern. Then Blaine escorted everyone else to the airport, even though they begged him to go home and get more sleep. After the last plane took off, Blaine drove home and slept for the rest of the day, only getting up to puke a couple times. Dave wasn't home, which Blaine was absolutely grateful for. He didn't want to be taken care of, he just basically wanted to be miserable. He felt like he deserved it after the feelings that surfaced last night. While Kurt was singing, all he wanted to do was pull him into an empty room and make love to him. It was actually lucky for him that he felt so horrible. Otherwise, he was pretty sure he would be driving over to Kurt's house to do just that, if Kurt would even have him. He needed to get his feelings under control before Dave got home. He wasn't going down this road. Even if Kurt would take him back (and Blaine would not do that to Dave) he was pretty sure that they would end up right back where they were in New York. Kurt did not want to be married to him and that fact hurt more than any of the others.

* * *

Kurt hadn't known how to deal with what had happened either. He could have sworn that Blaine was crying while he was singing, but he had made a concerted effort not to look at him very much, because he, Kurt, didn't want to cry. He had had no idea where Blaine had ended up when he decided to leave, but it didn't really matter. They were friends and that was all that he could hope for.

He'd gone home and texted with Walter for hours after. They had exchanged phone numbers and Walter seemed more than willing to talk to him. Walter was really sweet and seemed to have most of the same interests as Kurt. Kurt was actually feeling pretty good about things with Walter. So when Walter invited him to meet on Wednesday, Kurt jumped at the chance. He hadn't dated in so long and the interest in him felt amazing.

* * *

The next morning, Kurt arrived at McKinley feeling pretty good. Walter had texted him good morning with a kiss emoji and it had made his heart beat a little faster. Things were going great, so of course someone had to ruin it for him. This time it was Sue. She had gotten it into her head that it was up to her to fix him and Blaine. While he supposed he appreciated her caring, ke knew that anything she did would only end in disaster. Besides, he was pretty sure that she had no actual interest in Blaine and him, he figured she was just bored and it was his turn to be the target of her insanity.

"Since when have you cared about me and Blaine?" Kurt asked her.

"Since like forever!" she replied. She went on to compare Blaine and him to blouses, her favorite type of gay, and told him that they belonged together.

"Thank you, I-I guess. But I do not want to get back together with Blaine!"

"Listen to you! That's not the Porcelain I know!" she yelled. "Now you better get to the auditorium. The teams have arrived to rehearse on stage for the invitational," she said in a much more measured voice.

"What invitational?" he asked.

"The one I organized to destroy the glee club once and for all," she said menacingly. He just stared at her and she said, "I said that out loud, didn't I. I should have said that in voice-over." Kurt sighed and walked out of her office. Just then his phone pinged with a text from Walter.

 _Hope your day is going well! ;)- Walter._

Kurt couldn't help but smile and texted that it was okay but that he was looking forward to meeting him face to face. He made his way to the auditorium where he did in fact find the Warblers and Vocal Adrenaline on the stage. _Well, this is just fantastic_ , he thought. He remembered how VA had made them all feel when he was first in the glee club and knew that the same thing was bound to happen to their kids. He quickly conferred with Rachel and they decided to ask Mr. Schue and Blaine to take it easy on them. Rachel agreed to ask Mr. Schue, while Kurt ran back to the choir room to look for songs they could possibly have their tiny glee club sing that wouldn't sound like complete trash next to full clubs.

He had no luck as he was completely put on the spot and decided to rejoin Rachel so they could confer together. He walked over to her and they were joined by Blaine a moment later.

"Okay, so let's go through the rules," Blaine said. "Um, we decided there are no judges, so this is really about bragging rights. But still, my guys are taking this very, _very_ seriously. So I just want to make sure the order is picked fairly. And by fairly, I mean that we're gonna go second. Um, by the way, how is the filling up of your roster going? Is that going okay?" Rachel and Kurt had been glancing at each other trying not to roll their eyes too much during Blaine's spiel.

"It's an invitational," Kurt replied, feeling a little bit attacked. "We don't have to follow the strict show choir rules."

"Has it occurred to either of you that this could be a really awful idea for you team," Blaine asked, obviously trying to appear caring. Frankly, he was getting on Kurt's nerves.

"We just want to give them a sense of what to expect at sectionals, and, you know, we were also just hoping that maybe you and Mr. Schuester would take it easy on us," Rachel replied, hopefully.

"Oh, no way. No no no," Blaine replied. "Absolutely not. No one's going easy on anybody. Nope. The Warblers are being rebuilt just like the New Directions. I'm sorry, but my allegiance is with them." _Huh_ , Kurt thought. _You don't seem sorry._ "If that at all seems scary to you guys, then you should probably drop out," he said, looking at this phone, which had just buzzed. "Oh my God!" Blaine went on. "It's Dave. There's an intruder in our apartment!"

"Intruder," Kurt said looking at Rachel. They all ran out together to see what was going on. When they arrived at Blaine and Dave's apartment Dave was standing on the table yelling about something being in the bedroom and thinking he was going to die. They went in and he yelled at them that _they_ were going to die. They found a bear cub on the bed, though that wasn't the most surprising thing in the bedroom to Kurt. _Who decorated in here?!_ He couldn't help thinking.

"Oh my God, is that a real live bear cub?!" Rachel exclaimed.

"Uh, why is there a bear in here?" Blaine asked. "Why is there a bear in here?!" they heard Dave squeal from the other room. Based on that, Kurt figured out who had decorated. _When did Dave turn into a five-year-old girl?_ Kurt wondered.

"I think I have a pretty good idea," he replied to their questions. The first thing he did was get Blaine to get Dave off the table and they all went out into the hall. Then he called animal control and found out that the Lima zoo was in fact missing a bear cub. They all waited while the zoo people came to pick the bear up. All the while Blaine was trying to calm down Dave, who had obviously had quite a fright. Kurt tried to keep his eye-rolling to a minimum. He supposed it would be pretty scary if he had just happened on a bear cub in his house, though he was pretty sure he would be able to keep it together better than this.

After it was all done, Blaine had to go back to McKinley and get his team together. Kurt had explained that he was pretty sure that Sue was behind the whole bear cub thing and that he would talk to her. Blaine tried not to take his wrath out on Kurt, since this was obviously the work of someone completely deranged, but it was hard. He had been pretty embarrassed at the way Dave had acted in front of Kurt and it was hard, for some reason, not to see that as Kurt's fault.

The next morning, Kurt found himself in Sue's office _again,_ trying to reason with a lunatic.

"Wait, wait. I'm very confused. I had it on good authority that Dave Karofsky was attracted to bears?!" Sue answered, when Kurt accused her.

"Well, in this case, a bear refers to a burly, gay MAN, not an actual bear," Kurt raised his voice, but wasn't quite yelling. This was Sue, and she had apparently become very unstable. "That would be really dangerous, and completely insane!"

"Well, my tenure at this school has expanded my horizons on what is or is or isn't considered insane," Sue replied, fairly calmly. "Will Schuester once submerged a lucite platform into the McKinley swimming pool so he could literally walk on water to propose to his girlfriend. Now that's pretty insane." Kurt had to admit that she wasn't wrong, but still.

"This just has to stop!" Kurt yelled, still trying to reign in his anger. "I don't. want. to. get back together with Blaine. I've moved on. I've met someone online, his name's Walter."

Sue responded by telling him that this person was obviously a cannibal looking for someone to eat. _And we are back to crazy_ , Kurt thought. She started talking about eating him "a mouthwatering, delicious corn-fed Porcelain rump roast." He had had it, told her to stop again and left. She started yelling like a crazy person about their fabulous, over-the-top gay wedding as he walked down the hall. He tuned her out the second he hit the door and sighed. This obviously wasn't over by a long shot and he didn't even want to know what was coming next. Turns out, he didn't have too long to wait.


	15. Chapter 15

Later that same day, Blaine had agreed to teach Rachel and Sam to play the piano, but left immediately when he realized Sue was around. He still had damage control to do with Dave because of her and he just didn't want to do or say anything to her that he would regret.

Dave and Blaine had decided to meet at Breadsticks to have a date night. They had been drifting apart lately, and they figured they needed something to pull them back together.

"Gosh, this place brings back so many memories. I haven't been here in a million years," Blaine said as they waited for their waitress. He figured small talk was the way to go.

"Tell me about it," Dave replied. "I look back at who I was in high school and it's like, I don't even recognize that dude. At all."

"That's why I admire you so much," Blaine said to him. "You have been through a lot to get to where you are today." Just then a man called to Dave from another table.

"Dave?" the man said, coming over. "I thought it was you. You look great! Have you been working out?"

"Oh, uh, yeah," Dave said, clearly trying to minimize whatever was going on. "Nelson, this is my boyfriend...Blaine." Blaine and Nelson shook hands and exchanged pleasantries as Nelson introduced his own boyfriend, Stewart, who apparently also knew Dave. Pretty soon the entire room was noticing Dave and saying hello to him. Blaine was getting decidedly uncomfortable.

"What the hell's going on?" Blaine asked Dave.

"Um…" Dave responded, though he didn't really know.

"Well, good evening gentlemen," Sue said, arriving at the table. _Oh great_ , Blaine thought. _This is all I need right now._ "David, I have taken the liberty of asking every man you've dated to join you for dinner tonight with Blaine. But that's not all. I brought you both something."

"Oh, what do you have there," Blaine asked nicely, trying not to provoke the insane lady.

"Well, it is your online genealogy profile," she replied, just as sweetly. "I submitted DNA samples from your hair follicles that I stole from the lint trap in your washing machine and I think you're going to be very surprised with the results. It turns out that you share a great great grandfather. One, Thomas Anderson, watchmaker from Philadelphia. Which means the two of you are third cousins." Blaine had been humoring her all through this little speech until she got to the name of his ancestor. The Andersons were very proud of their heritage and Blaine knew, in fact that that was the name of his great great grandfather, and he had been from Philadelphia.

"You can't be serious!" he replied, stunned.

"DNA doesn't lie," Sue replied. "Well, have a wonderful evening. And just remember that you're about to have sex with a family member."

Blaine just looked at Dave with an uncomfortable laugh. "Um, I have to go," he said and left.

"Blaine!" Dave called after him. "We need to talk about this!" he said, hurriedly getting up to go after him.

"No we don't!" Blaine yelled back once they were outside. "I can't even process this right now...I have to go." With that, Blaine got in his car and left, just feeling really glad that they had arrive separately. He headed to the apartment and threw some stuff in a bag and headed to his mom's house.

"Hey, honey," his mom said, sounding very surprised when he arrived.

"Hey," he said dejectedly. "Is it okay if I stay here tonight?"

"You know you don't need to ask that, Sweetheart!" she replied. "Is everything okay with you and David?"

"I don't know. Things got really weird at dinner, and I just need a little space right now," he replied. He headed over to sit with her on the couch. She was watching an old episode of Project Runway, which made him think of Kurt, but he pushed those feelings down too. He was too emotionally tired to try and process any of it, so he just laid his head on his mom's shoulder and watched television with her, like they used to do when he was little. She didn't try to coax out of him what was wrong. She knew her son and that he needed time to process. When she heard his stomach rumble, she wordlessly got up and made him a sandwich and got him a glass of milk like she would have done if he were a child. He was really grateful for her care. Since his parents had divorced, she spent a lot of time in the company of younger men and he missed the way she used to act with him. Eventually he realized that no matter what was going on in his personal life, he was going to have to go to bed and get some rest. He still had the stupid invitational to worry about and he needed to be on his top game for the Warblers.

* * *

The next morning Rachel and Kurt announced to the glee club that they had picked some songs to sing for the competition. They knew this was going to be an uphill battle and they just hoped that they even still had a glee club at the end of the invitational. Rachel had gotten Mr. Schue to agree to go easy on them, or so she thought. It turned out Sue was also messing with Mr. Schue and Rachel and whatever had happened had pissed off Mr. Schue. Vocal Adrenaline pulled no punches in their performance and they were all plenty scared after they performed. Sue then announced that it was a three-day competition and that the Warblers would go the next day and then New Directions would go the day after that.

Kurt knew they needed to do something drastic and told Rachel that she needed to recruit Kitty, the cheerleader. Rachel knew that Kitty hated her and really didn't want to do it, but realized they had no other choice. They needed her star power and her intel on Sue.

* * *

Later on that day, Kurt was trying to convince Janitor Figgins to spend a little bit more time cleaning the auditorium. He was not taking too kindly to the criticism of his work when Blaine walked in looking for Sam and Rachel to give them their piano lesson. Figgins left, as Blaine came in.

"Uh oh, something's wrong," Kurt deduced as Blaine sat down hard in a chair, with a big sigh.

"Everything. Okay. Everything's wrong!" he replied. "Dave has dated like every guy with facial hair in the greater Midwest. And evidently we're related."

"Wait, what?" Kurt responded, trying not to laugh.

"Yeah. Sue went on one of those ancestry websites and she discovered that Dave and I are third cousins."

"Blaine," Kurt fairly sputtered out. "There is no universe where you and Karofsky are related! Sue's is obviously just trying to get you guys to break up so that we'll get back together!"

"Why can't she and everyone else just understand that yes, you were my first love-"

"-And you were mine," Kurt added in.

"But I just think that, like you always say, we're probably better off as great friends, you know?" Blaine was actually hoping that Kurt would dispute that and say they should get back together.

Instead he said, "Well, I'm glad that we could be adult about this. And full disclosure, I've actually met a really nice guy online and we have our first date tonight." Blaine felt like he had been punched in the gut.

"Oh," he replied, not knowing what else to say. Kurt had always been known to zig when Blaine thought he would zag. Apparently this was no different. Here he had the perfect opportunity to get Blaine back, which is what he had said that he wanted, initially, and instead he was going to do this. Blaine had to cover up his hurt immediately, because he didn't want to Kurt to see it. "Well, that's. Awesome," he said. "That's...um...I hope that goes really well. Yeah, well he damn well better know that he is on a date with America's most eligible bachelor." Kurt laughed a little at that. He was frankly surprised that Blaine would say something like that. He thought it was really sweet.

Blaine needed to get the heck out of there. And fast. Life seemed to be falling apart all over the place. "Um, I gotta go. Um, I really gotta get going and find those guys. Um, it was good...it was good to see you," he said as he moved in for an awkward hug.

"You too," Kurt replied. Blaine thought that they had moved passed the awkwardness, but apparently not as Kurt nearly kissed him.

"Uh, hello," Blaine laughed uncomfortably as the finally managed the hug. They each continued to mumble pleasantries as Blaine made his way down the stairs. Once he was out the door he rested his body on the other side of the wall and let himself feel for the first time since the night before. Tears ran, unbidden, down his face as he saw what he actually wanted slipping through his fingers. He realized he had just wanted Kurt to tell him that he loved him again and to be back in his arms. He had waited too long and now Kurt had moved on. He wiped tears from his eyes, angry at himself, and went off to find Rachel and Sam. He needed to sort stuff out, but as always, he was going to see to his obligations first.

* * *

Kurt stayed in the auditorium feeling like he had missed an opportunity. Sure, he was excited for his date, but he couldn't help but feel like Blaine had wanted something and he hadn't given it to him. He realized that no matter what, his heart was always going to belong to Blaine first, and anyone else who came along second. He sighed and made his way to his car. He didn't have much time and he needed to get home and shower before he went to meet Walter.

A little later on found Kurt at Breadsticks waiting for Walter to show up. He asked the waiter who came to his table for a bottle of sparkling water and found out that it _was_ Walter. And Walter was...old. Kurt couldn't get the shocked look off his face as Walter introduced himself. Walter told him he looked just like his photo and Kurt had said he had thought Walter used an instagram filter. That was how Kurt ended up finding out that Walter was married with children Kurt's age. He finally blurted out the question that was foremost in his mind.

"How old are you, exactly?" To which Walter replied that he was 50 mumble, mumble years old. Walter realized he'd made a mistake by not being upfront with Kurt about his age. Kurt tried to get over his shock, but couldn't quite do it. They finally agreed that they could be friends and see how that went. Kurt, ever, the gentleman, decided that he wouldn't mind friendship with Walter and with the awkwardness over, they actually fell into easy conversation. Kurt ended up having a pretty good time, though he didn't possibly know where this relationship was going to go, what with the age gap. He could just imagine his dad's reaction to him bringing Walter home. His dad would lose his shit and possibly try to fight Walter. So he figured he was going to have to keep this quiet for now.


	16. Chapter 16

_A/N Well, here it is, Cool People. The infamous elevator scene, that holds my favorite onscreen kiss of all time. It makes me think of the line in the Princess Bride about how there were only a few kisses that were so pure but this one blows them all out of the water. Anyways, I hope you enjoy my background for this event. It was hard to write because I get so emotionally invested in this scene. As always, I own nothing I mention except for the actual story that I am writing._

* * *

By the day that it was time for the Warblers to perform, Kurt had been out with Walter twice, and he thought things were going well. He had decided to ask Walter if they were actually dating and Walter said he thought that sounded great. Of course, Sue tried to come and ruin the whole thing by making fun of their age difference, but it was no matter because Walter basically chose to ignore her, for which Kurt was exceedingly thankful.

* * *

It was almost time for the Warblers to go on and Blaine knew they were ready so he excused himself to the washroom. He decided to use the the McKinley faculty bathroom, as he had always wondered what it looked like in there. He was pretty disappointed to discover that it was just an average bathroom, though the privacy was nice. He came out and almost literally ran into Kurt. "Hi! Sorry," he said as he almost hit him.

"Oh hi, I thought you'd be in the auditorium. The Warblers are about to go on," Kurt replied to his surprised greeting.

"No no no...I know. I just...um...I've always wanted to used the McKinley faculty bathroom now that I'm sort of faculty myself…" Blaine answered, a little embarrassed at being caught.

"So how was it?" Kurt laughed. _Could he be any cuter...stop it, Kurt. You're dating someone,_ all went through Kurt's head in a matter of milliseconds.

"It felt...really grown up," Blaine replied.

"Well, I'm headed back now. Do you want to walk with me?" Kurt asked.

"Yeah," Blaine answered, his heart jumping into his throat at just being invited to walk down a hallway with Kurt. "That'd be nice." He had a rather large grin on his face at being asked, which he tried to temper. He let Kurt go a little ahead of him so he could get his emotions in check, which is why he noticed an elevator to the auditorium.

"Oh, hey. Is that new," Blaine asked. Kurt had never seen it before either.

"Oh, yeah, I guess so."

"That's convenient," Blaine mumbled. They talked about how it would have been nice if the elevator had been around before Artie graduated and they didn't have to continuously carry him up and down all those stairs. Kurt pushed the button and the elevator opened as they continued to lament how non-handicapped friendly the school was.

The elevator doors opened and Kurt asked Blaine if he was excited to see the Warblers sing. They made small talk until Blaine noticed something.

"Oh my God, look, is this a bathroom...in an elevator?" Blaine asked. That is when Kurt noticed something else.

"I don't think we're moving…" He started pushing the buttons to try to get the doors back open. Blaine told him to press the emergency button and they both tried pressing all the buttons, but to no avail. They decided to try and pry the doors open, but that ended quickly when Kurt broke a nail.

"I think we're locked in," Blaine said, trying not panic. Neither of them were particularly claustrophobic, but this was just downright weird. "What kind of elevator is this," he asked. Just then the lights went out and freaked them both out. They turned back on one by one.

"I don't think this is a real elevator," Kurt said. He was thinking that this seemed to be the way horror movies always started. They continued to try to find a way out. They looked in the bathroom and they continued to try and pry open the door. Pretty soon they could hear music coming from the auditorium and Blaine sunk down to the floor.

"My guys are performing and I'm not even there to watch." Kurt just looked at Blaine sympathetically. He had no idea what to say to that. Kurt sunk down in the opposite corner and hit his head on the wall a couple of times. _What the heck are we supposed to do now?_ he thought.

They stayed silent through the Warblers performance and Blaine thought that it had sounded pretty good. He hoped that all the dance moves that Sebastian and David had taught them went off without a hitch. After the Warblers were finished, they continued to look for an escape route. Blaine pressed all the buttons again a few more times, hoping against hope that something would work. Kurt went back into the bathroom and tried to see if there was a false wall, but he couldn't find any.

After being trapped for about an hour, Blaine was going stir crazy and knew he needed to get out of there and get the Warblers back to Dalton. He ended up taking his anxiety out on Kurt.

"How could you not know if your school had an elevator or not?" he asked Kurt. Kurt was actually really surprised that he had decided to turn his wrath on him.

"Do you walk down every hallway at Dalton every day?" Kurt replied with snark.

"No, but I know where the elevator is!" Blaine shouted. Kurt just looked at him like he'd lost his mind and turned to face the wall. "I HAVE to get out of here! I need to get the Warblers back to Dalton so that the commuters can go home."

"Do you really think that they aren't capable of getting onto a bus themselves?" Kurt spat out. Blaine just looked at him with hurt in his eyes and Kurt turned to face the wall. It was at this point that Blaine decided to start banging on the door, hoping someone would hear him. He banged for a good five minutes before Kurt yelled at him.

"Stop banging! No one can hear you."

"Well why don't you use your phone," Blaine replied in a measured tone.

"I'm at four percent….it just died," Kurt answered. Blaine didn't have his own phone because he had loaned it to one of his students whose own phone had died.

"You've got to stop charging every night. I've told you a hundred times."

"There's no reception in here anyway!" Kurt was really not in the mood to get a lecture on cell phone usage. He wanted out of the elevator just as badly as Blaine did. He was supposed to meet Walter in just a couple of hours and he needed to go home and freshen up. Blaine let out a growly yell and banged on the door one more time.

"Huh. Well at least we've got that bathroom," Blaine said, trying to find positives in such a ridiculous situation.

"God, I'm losing my mind!" Kurt yelled with his eyes closed. "We've got to find a way out of here!" Just then a wall slid up and the whole experience became a lot more like a horror film as the creepiest doll either of them had ever seen wheeled in on a tricycle. It looked like a papier mache version of Coach Sue.

"'the hell!" Blaine exclaimed as he got as far away from the doll as possible. The boys were both standing up against the back wall of the pretend elevator as the doll began to speak and they realized that yes, they were in somebody's idea of a very evil joke...or worse.

"Hello, Klaine," the doll said in a creepy monster voice-over voice. "Let's play a game. You're trapped in an elevator."

"This isn't an elevator," Kurt replied. He realized that this had to be Sue when the doll said "Klaine." He was slightly less scared, but a whole lot more pissed off.

"You're trapped in an elevator with a bathroom," the Sue-thing continued. "If you don't find a way out, you'll be forced to eat each other and then suffocate. But you have another choice!"

"What?!" Kurt asked, exasperated.

"You and Blaine must kiss. If you kiss each other you will be allowed to leave this room."

"That's ridiculous. That's easy...that's all we gotta do?" Blaine asked.

"Okay, here we go," Kurt said. "Blaine and I are about to kiss...mwah! Alright? There." When Kurt got his hands on Sue things were going to get ugly.

"No, not like that," the thing responded. "I want to see you really go at it!"

"Just let us out!" Blaine yelled at the thing. "Please! Just no!"

"We're not gonna do that!" Kurt added. He really wouldn't mind, but he wasn't going to give Sue the satisfaction.

"Fine, be that way," the Sue-thing went on. "You're in for a looong night as the temperature of this elevator with a bathroom rises and rises and you'll be forced to remove more and more clothes." Then the thing started laughing evilly.

"This is insane," Blaine said to Kurt. Just then a heart-shaped basket rolled through the opening that the Sue-thing came through. The wall shut again before they could react and try to get through there.

"How will you resist each other. Scantily clad, burning with desire, enjoying a romantic dinner for two of roasted corn salad and seared lamb tapenade, paired perfectly with a bottle of playful, full-bodied Cabernet with just the right amount of spice." Then the doll started wheeling back but stopped one last time. "Don't fight the Klaine romance!" the Sue-thing said as it pointed at them. "The choice is yours." It then went through the opening again. They tried to catch the opening this time, but it went down too quickly. Blaine beat on the wall it had just gone through.

"We're not gonna...kiss for your amusement," he yelled.

"Oh God, what's in this," Kurt asked as he threw open the basket. "Oh!" he said with surprise when he found the dinner the Sue-thing had described. They continued to look for a way out for about another hour before they resigned themselves to their fate, opened the basket and had dinner.

"How far do you think she's willing to take this," Blaine asked, after they had eaten as little as they could, to sustain themselves. They didn't know if they would need to save some food for later.

"I wish I could tell you," Kurt answered with a sigh. He realized that Walter probably thought he'd stood him up by now, which only really bothered him on the level that it wasn't a kind thing to do. If he was going to be trapped in an elevator, there was no one he could think of that he would rather be trapped with. It would be relatively easy for them to get out as well, though Blaine seemed dead-set against it, so Kurt didn't even try to bring it up. "Blaine, I'm really sorry," he whispered instead. Tears were threatening to pool in his eyes, so he looked towards the wall.

"Why?" Blaine replied with a hollow laugh. "I am fully aware that you didn't do this, Kurt. Sue is completely insane."

"No," Kurt replied, still facing the wall so if the tears slipped out Blaine wouldn't seem them. "I'm sorry about what happened to us...in New York. I never...meant for…" he couldn't continue without actually crying so he stopped talking altogether.

Blaine was completely stunned into silence. The last thing he was expecting was an apology over the past. He couldn't even begin to think of something to say as he got choked up as well. They continued to sit in silence until Blaine noticed that Kurt's head was drooping.

"Hey, why don't you get some rest?" Blaine asked him.

Kurt let out a mirthless "ha." "I'm not about to fall asleep in case that thing comes back in," Kurt replied with a shudder.

"Yeah, but we are going to have to sleep at some point tonight," Blaine said matter-of-factly. "We'll have to do it in shifts. You trust _me_ , right? I'll keep watch and then wake you after a few hours and you can keep watch."

"Of course I trust you...but are you sure? You have to be just as tired as I am. Why don't you sleep first." Blaine couldn't believe how much just having Kurt say he trusted him affected him. But he couldn't dwell on that now. Kurt was literally falling asleep.

"No, you go ahead. I'll be fine. I actually have a book in my bag. I'll just read for awhile." With that, Kurt lay down and gave himself over to sleep, for which Blaine was glad.

Blaine had had every intention of reading, but instead he just found himself watching Kurt sleep. It took every ounce of willpower he had not to just lean over and kiss him, while he slept. Kurt was so beautiful and Blaine had missed him so much. While the situation was completely ridiculous, Blaine couldn't help but fantasize a little about if they were actually still together what they would be doing right now. Of course the fact that they were clearly being watched would have been something of a buzzkill.

He didn't actually have to wake Kurt up because he woke up on his own a couple hours later, shouting, "Blaine!"

"What?!" Blaine had jumped when Kurt had yelled out his name. He felt like he had been caught watching Kurt.

"Huh?" Kurt asked trying to come up out of the fog of his sleep. Where were they again? He knew he'd been dreaming, but the dream evaporated into his subconscious immediately and he had no idea he'd shouted out Blaine's name. When he finally came back to consciousness he remembered that Sue had trapped them in a fake elevator and he sighed. He kind of felt like he'd walked into a weird soap opera. Sue was definitely like the crazy villain in one the more ludicrous ones.

"Are you okay?" Blaine asked him.

"Yeah," Kurt sighed. "I just forgot where I was for a blissful minute." Kurt looked over at Blaine and noticed how dark the circles under his eyes had become. "You need to get some sleep. It's your turn." Blaine was still looking at Kurt oddly. At first he had thought there was a reason that Kurt had called his name. It occurred to him a few moments later that he may have been dreaming about him. Kurt was fairly verbal in his sleep...he even walked in his sleep sometimes. Kurt had been known to hold whole conversations with people while he was sleeping and not remember a word of it after he woke up. "Okay, to sleep you will probably want to lay down," Kurt said patronizingly. He was getting weirded out by the way Blaine was staring at him. Blaine cocked his head to the side and smiled at him, which made him even more nervous. Kurt gestured for him to lay down, which he finally did, though he was still smiling at Kurt oddly.

"Good night," Blaine finally said and closed his eyes. He thought with all of the pent up feelings that he was feeling right now there would be no way for him to sleep. He was wrong and asleep within minutes.

Kurt had gotten the book that Blaine had discussed out of his bag and tried to read but he was too tired and the words kept swimming on the pages. After that he got out a piece of paper and started practicing all of the origami animals that he remember from when he was little. He was trying to do anything to keep his mind off of Blaine being mere inches away from him. He finally gave up and just watched him sleep. He wanted nothing more than to crawl into the crook of Blaine's arm and fall back to sleep. He knew that he had to stay awake, though, in case the Sue-thing came back and they had a chance to get out.

Blaine really didn't sleep very long at all. The floor was not at all comfortable and he was very unused to sleeping without a pillow and blanket. When he woke up, they decided to eat more from the basket. They ate in silence before putting away the leftovers. They ended up both sitting with their legs crossed like they were in kindergarten, facing each other.

"Kurt," Blaine finally said, "about what you said last night...at least I think it was last night…"

"Yeah?" Kurt didn't really know what he was referring to.

"About your apology...I'm sorry too," Blaine said, willing the tears to stay at bay. It was about time they stopped dancing around this conversation. It was the only way they would truly be able to be friends.

"You have nothing to apologize for," Kurt whispered. "I screwed everything up completely...and I am SO sorry, and I know you can't forgive me, but I just need you to know I am so very sorry that I hurt you so badly." a few tears escaped down Kurt's face and Blaine reached up and brushed them away, without thinking.

"Oh, Kurt," Blaine sighed. "I forgave you almost immediately. I never should have said that I wouldn't. It is one of the things I am sorry for. But also that we were fighting all the time. I share as much blame in that as you do. Can we just put all of it behind us and move on?" Blaine had grabbed Kurt's hand and was looking at him so hopefully.

"Yes, _please_ ," Kurt replied brokenly, squeezing Blaine's hand. Blaine smiled shyly and pulled Kurt off the floor and into a hug. Kurt rested his head on Blaine's shoulder. He realized that they were going to have to pull back from this soon as it was completely inappropriate, given the circumstances but he couldn't help but take the comfort while it was offered. Blaine pulled back, not letting go, but to look into Kurt's eyes.

"Do you remember what I told you in New York when we went ice skating?" Blaine asked him.

"You said that even if we aren't together, we'll always be there for each other," Kurt replied with a smile. "And I told you a long time ago that I'm never saying goodbye to you and I will always mean that." _It would be so easy_ , Kurt thought. _We could kiss right now and this nightmare would be over and a wonderful dream would replace it._ Unfortunately Blaine seemed to take that moment to realize how intimately connected they were and pull away.

"We should...we should keep looking for a way out of here," Blaine mumbled. He had been about to pull Kurt in for a kiss but he couldn't do it. He had promised himself after the one time he had ever cheated on anyone that he would never do it again. He was finding that promise harder and harder to keep the more he seemed to keep running into Kurt and it was causing a war inside of him. Now they were thrown together by a lunatic and he wanted nothing more than to give himself over to the experience. If it weren't for his guilt, they would have already been released from this tiny prison.

They half-heartedly looked for a way out for while. They decided to try and see if there was any way to get out above them but to no avail. They couldn't get enough leverage to get one of them up there. "There should be an escape hatch up there," Kurt grunted after a couple failed attempts. "But considering this isn't a real elevator, who knows anyway."

Kurt lay down on the floor. He was so grossed out by having to lay on a dirty floor, but it was frankly the only position that was comfortable right now. He had been both sitting and standing for too long and it was quite hard to pace in such a small space. He realized this is what a caged animal must feel like. He knew there were any number of reasons that Sue Sylvester should have been arrested over the years but this was a whole new level to her psychosis. Unfortunately, though, her heart seemed to be in the right place and that was hard to admit. Because, he realized, he really did want to get back together with Blaine. If only Blaine felt the same way.

"You okay down there?" Blaine asked from his standing position against the wall. Kurt had been making some weird faces.

"I'm trying to decide whether we should have Sue arrested or not," Kurt replied, not joking at all. Blaine snorted a small laugh.

"It wouldn't matter if we did," he replied. "She somehow always seems to worm her way out of any trouble."

"Yeah, I suppose that's true," Kurt replied.

"Let's do something so I don't go crazy," Blaine said. Kurt looked at his with raised eyebrows. He nearly pointed out that the crazy could end but he just couldn't bring himself to do it. If Blaine wanted to kiss he was going to have to initiate it.

"What do you have in mind?" Kurt asked. They decided to tell each other about the kids in their show choir teams. It was a pretty short conversation on Kurt's end as he really didn't know the kids very well yet. He did tell him about the gay kid, Spencer, who brutally rebuffed him when he'd asked him to join the glee club. Blaine was sympathetic to both Kurt and Spencer. From the way he responded to Kurt, Blaine had a feeling that there was more to it than just simply being "too cool" for glee club.

Blaine regaled Kurt with stories of his guys for awhile. He knew some of them pretty well. He laughed as he told him that they all had girlfriends. "I thought it was supposed to be easier to be gay in high school these days," he said. "But these guys are all deluding themselves. Just like so many of the guys did when we were in high school." Kurt was actually having a really good time talking to Blaine. It felt like old times when they would just spend hours talking to each other, never getting bored of what the other had to say...and never running out of things to talk about.

"Hey, let's play a game," Blaine said suddenly. Kurt almost laughed at him. He was so nostalgic for how things were in high school and that seemed just like something Blaine would have done in high school. Blaine had been pretty impulsive back then and tended to come up with ideas out of nowhere.

"Do you have a deck of cards or anything in your bag?" Kurt asked, hopefully.

"Um, no," Blaine replied, thinking. Blaine blushed as he remembered the last time they had played a game with a deck of cards. It had been some game Kurt had learned called Greed, though they had decided to play it as strip game. "We should play..Head's Up. I have paper in my bag." He noticed that Kurt had a faint blush on his own cheeks and he figured he was remembering their card game too.

They proceeded to write some things down on pieces of paper for the other to hold up against their head so they could make them guess. They started with celebrities which was their favorite version of Head's Up.

"Okay…" Kurt said, giving clues. "She's a talk show host-"

"Oprah?" Blaine asked.

"No...she's...the one who...puts this game on her show…"

"Oh! Ellen!" Blaine shouted. Kurt just smiled and nodded. They went through a few more rounds. Neil Patrick Harris, Barbra Streisand, Will Smith, Katharine McPhee, and Kermit the Frog all made it into the game. They decided to do food next and Kurt gave clues first.

"Okay, are you ready for this," Blaine asked as he put a "card" on his head "Alright, cool. Here we go."

"Oh! Okay...This is...this is uh, a creamy pasta dish...that we said that that if we ever had a celebrity child, this is what we would name it."

Blaine thought for a second, smiled and said, "Fettuccini Alfredo."

"Yes! Yes," Kurt replied.

"I always liked that name," Blaine said laughing. "Alfredo."

"Little Fettuccini."

"Little-little Feta."

"Awww," Kurt murmured. Kurt went on to explain the next card that if he was an ironic rapper, this would be his name. Eventually, after Kurt said they drank it after they went ice skating, Blaine was able to guess hot chocolate.

"MC Hot Chocolate...that would be your ironic rapper name. What a tragedy. You're in the wrong profession...what are you a teacher now? You're blowin' it. MC Hot Chocolate is calling your name…"

Then it was Blaine's turn to give clues. "Um, okay...this is a dessert. It's cold. Um, it comes in a cart- Oh, uh, Dave eats this all the time. Like a little too much if you ask me." The mention of Dave made Kurt lose all interest in playing. The playful, flirty atmosphere that had been permeating the air was suddenly sucked out of the room and Kurt pulled himself up into the corner. Blaine realized a little too late what he had done and could have kicked himself. They had been having such a nice time and he had to go and blow it.

"It's so hot in here, I think I'm gonna be sick," Kurt complained. Just then the Sue-thing rolled in and had them both scrambling away from it again. It announced to them that it was filling the room with a sexual-stimulation drug to get things moving. Blaine had had it. He wanted out of the room. He figured that even if they were both with other people, the only way that they were going to be let out is if they kissed and he was over it. It was time to go.

"I want to get out of here," Blaine told Kurt. "It's just so hot."

"Yeess!" the Sue-thing said.

"Not...sexually hot...it's just actually hot and I want to get out of here. I want to go home!"

"Yes! Listen to Blaine!" shouted the Sue-thing. Blaine noticed that Kurt was rubbing his arm with his other hand, which was his major tell when he was nervous about something. Kurt was glancing back and forth between the Sue-thing and Blaine. He had been in the mood to kiss Blaine all day, but it had actually diminished over the past couple of minutes. He didn't want to kiss him just to get out of the room. He wanted to kiss him because they both wanted it. Kurt was now worried that the only reason Blaine wanted to kiss him was so that he could get back to Dave. He knew he had to go along with it, however, because they really needed to get out of that fake elevator. Music filled the room as he continued to ponder their predicament.

"Why don't we decide beforehand that this doesn't have to mean anything?" Blaine asked.

"We make a promise now that it means nothing," Kurt replied. He was willing to go along because there seemed to be no other choice.

"Let's do what we have to do," Blaine continued.

Kurt had to stop himself from saying _Well, that's romantic_ , very sarcastically. He realized that the song that was playing was _It Must Have Been Love_ by Roxette. _Well that's fitting,_ he thought sadly. "So we're in agreement," Kurt said as they both stood up.

"Yeah," Blaine fairly sighed. "This...doesn't mean anything." Tension was building up in the room and he knew Kurt felt it too. "The only reason we're doing this is because...it's the only way that Sue's gonna let us out." _Why if this doesn't mean anything is my heart starting to pound over this,_ Blaine wondered.

"Because Sue is forcing us," Kurt replied. He was determined to keep his head about him. Because he knew that it did mean something to him, even if it didn't to Blaine.

"Forcing us," Blaine repeated. At this point he was having trouble forming words and spitting them out.

"On the count of three," Kurt said. Then the Sue-thing started counting. And on three they gently touched their lips together. Blaine was planning to kiss him gently...just enough that they were allowed out. That thought went out the window as soon as their lips came together. Blaine felt like he had come home and home was just as comforting as it had always been, but also exciting and new. For the life of him, he couldn't remember why they didn't do this all the time.

For his part, Kurt desperately tried to stay connected to reality. The fact that they were doing this for a really stupid reason danced just around the edges of his consciousness and he tried to not lose himself completely in the kiss.

Blaine's hand automatically came up to cup Kurt's neck and Kurt gripped Blaine's shoulder as they deepened the kiss. The very last coherent thought Blaine had before he gave himself over to sensation was: _This means EVERYTHING._ They tilted their heads up and let their tongues circle each other. Then Blaine felt Kurt pulling away a little and he chased him, not willing to let go. Kurt did eventually manage to pull back and he stared at Blaine with heavily lidded eyes.

Blaine, for the life of him, could not remember where he was. He stared back into Kurt's eyes. He was about ready to pull Kurt back in and crash their lips together again when something caught Kurt's attention and he turned his head to the side. Blaine followed suit and realized the door was opening. Reality came crashing down around him and he remembered. Warblers. Competition. Trapped. Responsibility. He grabbed his things and ran out to go find his team. Kurt followed him closely with his own things. He wasn't sure exactly what Blaine felt, but he knew how he felt. And he also knew that Blaine had been just as affected by that kiss as he had. And he knew that it was time to go back to reality.


	17. Chapter 17

The first thing that happened when Blaine and Kurt reached backstage at the auditorium was that Sue saw them.

"Kurt...Blaine!" she yelled. Kurt couldn't help but think that it was a good thing she was on the other side of the stage. Kurt couldn't even handle her right now. They found Rachel immediately.

"Sorry we're late," Blaine whispered.

"Oh my God! Where have you been," Rachel asked, hugging him. "You missed the Warblers! They were really really good though."

"Hey," Kurt sighed, reaching in for a hug. No matter how nice it had been being with Blaine, it was nice to have contact with the outside world again. "It's a long story," he said. Blaine went to sit with his kids, while Kurt assessed the situation with their own glee club. "You changed the set list?" he asked.

"It's a long story," Rachel replied. "I got Kitty!"

"And Spencer?" Kurt was pleasantly surprised.

"Well, that was thanks to Sam," Rachel said, with a small blush. There was clearly something going on there, but Kurt would worry about that at another time. The opening notes for _Father Figure_ were filling the room as Roderick began to sing. _What an interesting choice,_ Kurt thought. He was once again blown away by Roderick's voice. He had been so worried that with just a few kids they wouldn't have a full enough sound to compete against the other choirs. These kids had that well in hand though and he enjoyed the performance. There wasn't much in the way of choreography, but considering they had learned these songs the night before, they were extremely impressive.

After _Father Figure_ was done, Mason and Madison started singing _All Out of Love_. They were sitting on stools, but their sound was amazing. At first Kurt was just bowled over by how good his kids sounded. Eventually he started paying attention to the words, though, and couldn't get over how appropriate this song was for Blaine and him. He looked out in the audience to see how they were being received, but of course his eyes immediately found Blaine. Blaine was already looking at him and he smiled his gorgeous little smile at Kurt. Kurt felt like he was going to melt into a puddle on the floor. Until that moment, he wasn't sure if things were going to be okay. From that moment on his hope for their combined future increased ten-fold. He also knew that even if they never got back together, what they said in the elevator would always hold true. They would always be there for one another as best friends. _Of course the last time we tried to be best friends, we ended up engaged_ , Kurt thought. For the past few months every time he had a thought like that, he got horribly depressed. This time all it did was make him smile wider and his heart beat a little faster.

Blaine, who was well in touch with all types of music, knew what song was being played from the opening chords. He realized immediately how it seemed like it had just been picked out for Kurt and him. He watched Kurt sway to the music throughout the whole song. He didn't even try to appear as if he wasn't. He really wished that he was onstage so that he could be dancing to this song with Kurt. For once he wasn't trying to stop the feelings he was having, he just let them come. That kiss had shown him just exactly what they each still felt for the other. And while maybe they could never do it again, he wasn't in any shape to not revel in the fact for just a little while, especially while this particular song was playing.

When the New Directions were finished singing, Sue handed out awards. The Warblers had come in third place, which Blaine knew was ridiculous. He knew that, while Vocal Adrenaline was flawless, his team had put in the work and they deserved a higher ranking. He was going to have to point out to his men what a farce this whole "competition" was. First of all, it wasn't even supposed to be a competition, so there was that. It was just another one of Sue's completely deranged attempts to make others feel bad. He really wanted to talk to Kurt, but he knew he had a lot of ruffled feathers to soothe with his team so he and his guys immediately headed to their bus when it was over. Blaine received a text a few minutes after their bus pulled out.

 _So I think we should confront Sue together. Maybe then she will stop targeting the both of us_ , Kurt texted.

 **I'm in. Where and when?** Blaine answered. They agreed to meet the next morning in Sue's office and confront her together.

When Blaine arrived home that evening, he found Dave sitting on the couch with a bag at his feet. Blaine had found that he had dozens of missed calls, voicemails, and text messages from Dave when he had been given his phone back. As soon as Dave saw him, he rushed at him and pulled him into a tight hug.

"Thank God you're okay!" Dave exclaimed. "When Rachel phoned and said that you were missing, and then you weren't anywhere I could think to check, I imagined the worst!" Blaine had already called Dave and told him that Sue the Psycho had trapped him in an elevator. He didn't mention Kurt. He figured that Dave probably knew Kurt was missing too, if he had been in touch with Rachel. Still, there was no point in pouring salt into the wound.

"Uh, what's going on?" Blaine asked, looking at the bag. Was Dave leaving him? And how was he supposed to react to that? Scared or relieved?

"Oh, I have to go home for a few days. Some stuff is going down with my family," Dave replied. Blaine looked at him with a raised eyebrow. Whatever it was, it must be bad. While Dave's father loved and accepted him, his mother had never become okay with her son being gay and she refused to be in his presence. "My mom isn't there, she is with her sister," Dave said, by way of explanation.

"Ah," Blaine replied. "Well, do you want me to come with you?" he asked, while he slid his hand up and down Dave's arm.

"No, there are just some things that my dad and I have to work out."

"No one died or anything like that, right?" Blaine queried.

"No no, nothing like that," Dave replied. "Look, I don't have all the answers but as soon as I know what is going on, I will fill you in." That was good enough for Blaine and he bid him goodbye.

"I really wanted to have dinner with you," Dave said before leaving. "There are some things we need to talk about and I've missed you so much! But I promised my dad I would be there as soon as I saw you. Anyways, I do want you to know that we aren't related, I looked up my ancestry."

"Yeah, I know. Kurt assured me that it was just Sue messing with us."

"Kurt? You went to Kurt about this instead of talking to me?" Dave was clearly hurt and something else. Angry, maybe? He had never been angry with Blaine, so Blaine didn't even really recognize the emotion on him.

"I'm sorry Dave. I ran into him after that horrible night at Breadsticks. I was upset about things and it just sort of came out. He was quick to assure me that you and I couldn't be related. He was just trying to help," Blaine finished, hoping to calm Dave.

"Okay, whatever," Dave returned, sounding a little defeated. "I have to go. I'll call you." With a peck to Blaine's lips, Dave walked out, pulling a small suitcase.

Blaine hoped everything with Dave's family was okay. If he was being completely honest with himself though, he wasn't going to mind having a few days alone to think.

* * *

The next morning Kurt and Blaine met together outside of Sue's door and went in to talk to her.

"Hello, Klaine," Sue said swiveling to face them in her desk chair.

"Stop calling us that!" Blaine shouted, flexing his fingers. He wanted nothing more than to bitch-slap Sue.

"Are you aware that we could have you locked up in a federal prison for twenty years?" Kurt asked her. "What you did to us falls under the legal definition of kidnapping!"

"I genuinely have no idea what you're talking about," Sue answered.

"Are you kidding?!" Kurt demanded. "We were locked in an overheated elevator with a little Sue Sylvester thing with a tracksuit, on a tricycle with a hideous papier mache face!"

"Remember that?" Blaine asked, pointing to his own brain.

"Honestly my first thought...Becky did it," Sue replied. Kurt couldn't take anymore, said the whole thing was pointless and began to walk out. Blaine grabbed Kurt and decided to take one last stab at it.

"You know what...wait, wait, wait a second," Blaine started, he grabbed Kurt before he could walk out.. "You know what Sue? Whatever you were trying to do, I want you to know it backfired. Because all it really did was help Kurt and I get over whatever resentment, whatever bitterness we were holding in and it made us realize that we are just better as friends. Okay?" Blaine had put his arms around Kurt, but that felt too right, so he immediately dropped them because he was trying to point out that they were just friends now. "So we should actually thank you."

"Then thank me," Sue replied.

"Thank you," Blaine said.

"Don't actually thank her!" Kurt huffed at Blaine. Sue started lamenting that her little project didn't go according to plan. She said she would have to get a new hobby, like running the numbers on which one of their current boyfriends keeled over first. They could see that they had not made a dent so they walked out frustrated.

Kurt didn't even realize that he was walking Blaine out to his car until they were halfway there. He figured he might as well go all the way. They hadn't spoken to each other since Sue's office, but it was a comfortable silence.

"So you think she'll leave us alone now?" Blaine asked as they arrived at his car.

"Not a chance," Kurt replied with a sigh. Blaine was almost relieved at Kurt's answer. He did not want to be trapped in an elevator again any time soon, but having someone out there who, for whatever reason, seemed to be hard core shipping them actually felt interesting and nice.

"Well," Blaine finally said, "I need to get out to Dalton. I guess I'll see you around?"

"Yeah, I guess so," Kurt replied. Blaine moved in to hug Kurt goodbye. He had meant it to be a simple parting hug, but he then didn't let go. He ended up holding Kurt in the parking lot for an indeterminate amount of time. Kurt made no move to step out of the embrace. In fact, he started lazily rubbing his hand up and down Blaine's back. Blaine sighed and made absolutely no move to leave. Kurt was letting his mind wander through past experiences with Blaine when he opened his eyes and caught a boy tossing a football up in the air and catching it. The football made him think of Finn and Puck and Sam and...Karofsky. Kurt bristled for just a moment, but that was all it took to jolt Blaine back to reality. He immediately disengaged from the embrace, embarrassed. They could not be doing this, especially in public view.

"Well, bye," Blaine said a little brusquely. Kurt almost whimpered from the loss of contact, but managed to hold it in check. Blaine started to get in his car and Kurt couldn't just let him leave like that.

"Hey," Kurt said. Blaine looked over at him. Kurt had to bite back the words "I love you, you know." That was a secret between the two of them. It stemmed from when Blaine got so unbelievably sad when Kurt had to go back to New York after they got engaged. They were in the airport and he was holding onto Kurt around the waist for dear life, but his head was down in Kurt's chest and he was trying his damndest not to let the waterworks start. Kurt had pulled his chin up gently and said, "Hey...I love you, you know." From then on it became what they said when they had to part, being it just for the day or for longer.

Blaine was holding open his car door and about to get in. When Kurt looked at him like that, he knew exactly what he hadn't said. He couldn't help but let a huge grin spread across his face and he said what they would have said next, telling Kurt he knew what he didn't say. "Bye, Beautiful." Kurt inhaled rapidly when Blaine said that.

"Bye, Gorgeous," Kurt whispered, barely audibly. But Blaine heard him, and his smile got even larger, if that was possible. He got in his car and backed out of the parking lot. Kurt and Blaine used to try and one up each other with compliments. If Kurt would say "Hello, Gorgeous," then Blaine would say "Hello, Perfection," and they would try and outdo each other. They fell into this routine and eventually the most common ones they used were Beautiful and Gorgeous. It was how they knew that, to the other, there was no one more attractive in the entire world.

Kurt stood exactly where he was, watching Blaine's car leave. His breathing had become a little ragged from all that had just transpired. He realized that they had basically both just admitted that they were still in love with each other. However, Blaine still had a steady boyfriend and Kurt still had a...Walter. He didn't really know what Walter was yet. He did know that whatever it was, he would give it up in a heartbeat if it meant Blaine would take him back. Unfortunately, Blaine hadn't given any indication that that was going to be his plan. Blaine was unbelievably loyal and Kurt figured that might come between what he, hopefully, wanted and what he was actually willing to do.

* * *

Unbeknownst to the two men, Sue had been able to see the entire exchange from her office window. _Oh, no_ , she thought sarcastically, _you two clearly don't want to be together._ She let out a little sigh and knew that even though they were begging her to stop with her antics, she wasn't going to. She wasn't going to watch them mess up their lives and let their pride and fear get in the way of what was meant to be. She knew too well what it felt like living out the rest of your life if you did that.

Sue knew Kurt and Blaine wondered why she would even care if they were together. Sue had a deep hidden secret that she hadn't let see the light of day since she was in college. She wasn't, strictly speaking, heterosexual. She mostly found herself drawn to men, but occasionally she found herself attracted to a woman. She knew, now, that what she was would be considered bisexual, though on the spectrum she was generally closer to the hetero side. However, her politics and the the time in which she had grown up had always prevented her from allowing herself to really feel okay with her "other" attractions.

The one time Sue did allow herself to be attracted to a woman was in college. Sue was a very different person then. She was much softer. She was feminine and actually strikingly beautiful. She looked like a runway model to most people. She had long blonde hair and striking blue eyes. She was flirtatious and fun to be around. When she arrived in her college dorm room on the first day her roommate, Marissa, knew she was a goner. Marissa had come to terms in high school with being a lesbian and she fell hard and fast for her roommate. She knew that her love would go unrequited because Sue obviously didn't follow the same bent. Except that in this instance she did.

Marissa was a tiny little thing. Where Sue had been nordic-looking, Marissa was Italian and had olive skin and dark eyes and hair. She was just over five feet tall and had a very athletic build from being a gymnast. She was actually on scholarship for gymnastics, while Sue had been recruited for volleyball. They lived in the mostly sports dormitory together. They had become fast friends, attending each other's meets whenever they were available. They tended to be extremely physical in their relationship, holding hands as they walked around campus. Or Sue would lay her head on Marissa's lap while they watched a movie, all the while Marissa would be stroking Sue's hair. As women, they could get away with these things. If people thought anything was going on, they just dismissed it as the girls were exceptionally close friends.

Marissa and Sue lived together like that for three years. Neither one of them felt comfortable taking the friendship where they wanted it to be. When they were juniors, the tension their unresolved feelings caused became insurmountable for both of them and they began to fight all the time. They both felt like their world was crumbling around them and it all culminated in such a huge fight that Sue was packing to move out of their shared apartment. Marissa completely broke down and begged Sue to stay with her. Sue ended up in front of Marissa and finally let herself feel what she had been so afraid of. She pulled Marissa down on her lap and kissed her practically lifeless.

From that moment on their friendship became what they both had been feeling for three years...love. They actually had admitted that afternoon that they were in love with each other. They stayed together until graduation. Marissa asked Sue to "marry" her. Of course they couldn't really do that, but what she was saying was that she wanted to remain committed with Sue forever.

Ultimately, the pressure of society had worn Sue thin and she couldn't do it. She wanted to be able to be public with their relationship, but it wasn't acceptable in anyone's eyes at that time. Though it killed her, Sue broke things off with Marissa and buried her feelings for women, and one woman in particular, down as deep as she could get them. She told herself she was attracted to only men and she began to act that way from that moment on. It made her hard. She had had a love that only comes along once in a lifetime for most people and had thrown it away due to stupidity. She was not about to let anyone else do that ever again. She had quietly helped orchestrate the relationship between Will and Emma (putting obstacles in their path in that instance, there was nothing Will liked more than overcoming obstacles) and now she was doing the same for Blaine and Kurt, though not quietly. She hadn't had to help Santana and Brittany, they came together without her, though she would have helped, if needed. Underneath the layers and layers of bitchy, Sue was an incurable romantic.


	18. Chapter 18

_A/N Hey all. Sorry for a bit of a delay. I really wanted to post this chapter with the next one but I didn't want to wait any longer. I haven't been able to write due to some stressors in real life, so the next one will be out when I can get it together. For this one, we head out to Dalton to see some of what Blaine went through in the aftermath of the elevator incident. Warnings for some bad language and for parents being jerks to their kids. I don't really like warnings, but I will put them out when I feel like you might want to know. As always, I do not own Glee...yada yada._

* * *

Blaine was having quite a week. It had started off with a really dull weekend. He had thought that he wanted time away from Dave, but he was such a social creature that he ended up spending most of the Saturday at Lima Bean, just to be around people. He sat there alone drinking copious amounts of coffee and reading or working on Warbler stuff. He had tried to call Dave a few times, but they had spent a sum total of about five minutes talking. Dave told him that his parents were having major problems and that he seemed to be at the center of it. That is all Blaine could get out of him and he refused to stay on the phone for very long. Blaine had asked if they could meet but Dave said he didn't have time. Blaine wasn't sure how he was supposed to feel about any of that.

Then on Sunday, he had headed back to the Lima Bean, this time just to stop in and get some coffee. He had had enough of being by himself on Saturday and had made plans with Sam for Sunday. They were going to play basketball in the McKinley gym with as many others as Sam could round up. This time as he headed into the Lima Bean he saw Kurt and butterflies seemed to immediately invade his stomach. The problem was, Kurt was not alone. He was standing with an older, fairly good-looking man, as they waited for their coffees. Blaine hadn't thought much of it at first and was about to go say hi, when the man said something and Kurt threw his head back and laughed. Then the man grabbed Kurt's hand. Blaine began to get mad...why was this guy getting into Kurt's personal space? Except that Kurt seemed to be extremely receptive to it and he didn't pull his hand back. _Could this be the guy Kurt is dating_ , Blaine thought with disgust. The man looked to be about sixty. What could Kurt possibly be thinking? More than that, though, it had hurt seeing Kurt with anyone. Blaine turned around and left without his coffee. He went to meet Sam and the guys but he ended up back home early, as the whole Kurt thing, plus not being able to get Dave to talk to him had put him in a pretty crappy mood.

Blaine had been glad when Monday had rolled around so he could go back to work and get immersed in something other than his complicated personal life. What he didn't realize was how many parents would be calling, saying their sons had talked to them over the weekend, telling them all about the crazy experience at McKinley the week before. The Warblers were very upset about the judging of the competition and they had made their parents aware. The parents were confused as to why the Warblers would have competed in a competition where one team had the advantage of the judge actually being their principal. From the information gathered, they thought the whole competition had to be rigged. What Blaine knew, but was unwilling to try and explain to parents, was that yes the competition was rigged, but it was rigged against the New Directions, not for them. Blaine did talk several parents down off the ledge of pulling their kids out of the Warblers, promising that this would never happen again. They had also wanted to know how he had managed to get himself trapped and their boys were without adult support for two days. That was a little harder to explain, but he managed to satisfy most of the parents.

It wasn't until Wednesday that things got really ugly with one kid in particular, a sophomore boy named Kyle Marson. Kyle's mother had shown up on Wednesday morning, ostensibly to pull Kyle out of Dalton altogether for the whole event, which she had heard third hand from another mother. By the time it got to her, she had heard a version of events that was far-removed from what had actually happened. Kyle hadn't talked to his parents at all about the event, knowing his mom would fly off the handle. With a prominent family threatening to pull their son out, the headmaster had no choice but to get involved. Blaine and the headmaster had spent a good part of the morning trying to convince her that most of what she had heard were falsehoods and that Kyle was perfectly safe at Dalton. It was Kyle, himself, who finally convinced his mother to let him stay. He had been in on the meeting as well.

"Mom, I don't want to leave Dalton," Kyle finally piped up.

"Honey, you can get just as good of an education somewhere that isn't so lax in the safety! Sending you kids off without a chaperone to a three-day event!" Mrs. Marson exclaimed.

"Mrs, Marson, I didn't send the kids off-" Blaine had started to try and explain that he was there with the boys.

"Mom, I'm not leaving," Kyle said, seeming to strengthen his resolve. "I realize I could go somewhere else but not many other schools have the kind of safety standards that Dalton has. Even most other private schools do not have the no bullying policy and I haven't been bullied here, Mom. Not once." Blaine found it interesting that Kyle seemed to be much more worried about being beaten up from within school than being without a chaperone out of school. He cocked his head and looked at Kyle. Kyle was basically your average American teenager. He would blend into any crowd of other teens. If it weren't for his exceptional singing voice, he wouldn't stand out at all. Was he being bullied for being able to sing?

"Kyle, there must be other private schools with the same policy," Mrs. Marson said. Blaine knew that Dalton's no bullying policy was pretty rare and he was about to say so when Kyle spoke up for himself again.

"Well, I am not leaving. I like it here and I have friends and I don't want to go anywhere else." Mrs. Marson, realizing that she would appear like a really mean mom if she made her son leave, said that she expected better in the future and left.

"Kyle, you may be excused to class," the headmaster said. "Blaine, please stay." After Kyle left, the headmaster laid it on the line for Blaine. "Son, I know you are young to be filling the shoes that you are, but this whole debacle has really thrown Dalton for a loop. We trusted you to make sure things like last week did _not_ happen. I still have faith in you, but we cannot have instances where we have boys without proper supervision. I have no idea how you came to be stuck in an elevator for two days, but please make sure that _it does not happen again._ If anything untoward happens for the rest of the year having to do with the Warblers, we will be forced to pull them from competition again, and you will be out of job, Blaine."

"Yes, sir," Blaine said, heat pouring into his face.

"You may go," the headmaster said. Blaine got up and walked back to his office, completely embarrassed. He'd had about all the humiliation he could handle for the day and it was only ten o'clock in the morning. Furthermore, he really didn't want to see the Warblers pulled out of competition again. After the Hunter Clarington doping episode, the show choir board had forced the Warblers to lay out for one year of competitions. Dalton had added it's own sanctions and forced them to stay out of competition for two more years. This was the first year that Dalton was going to be allowed to compete after being out for three years. While Blaine knew that, in all honesty, he couldn't have avoided what had happened, the only way that it was going to look like it wasn't his fault is if he turned Sue in for kidnapping. And that would just cause an even bigger scandal that the Warblers would be at the center of, and he didn't think that would go over well either. In the end, not reporting right away and as far fetched as the whole thing sounded, it would probably look like he had made something up to get out of trouble at this point.

When he got to his office, he sat down in his chair and scrubbed a hand over his face. He was going to have to move on from this, but man was this week sucking.

"Mr. Anderson?" a voice asked from the doorway.

"Kyle, hi!" he replied, trying to pull out of his funk. "Shouldn't you be in class?"

"Yes, but can I talk to you for a minute first?" Kyle asked. Blaine gestured to a seat across from his desk and said of course. "I just wanted to apologize for my mom," Kyle went on, after he was seated. "She is the biggest drama queen in the world. She loves to make a stink because she is an attention whore. I swear I didn't tell her about anything that went on at McKinley last week!"

"Kyle, it's okay," Blaine reassured him. "It was an unfortunate set of events and we are all going to have move past it. Which we will." Kyle made no move to get up and leave and Blaine had a feeling that they weren't done talking. "It really is okay, Kyle...you don't need to worry about it."

Kyle took a deep breath and continued talking. "I just wanted to also thank you for standing up for me about her pulling me out. She would definitely have tried it and I haven't felt at home anywhere else like I feel at Dalton."

"That's how a lot of guys end up feeling about Dalton," Blaine said with a smile. "It was definitely home for me too when I was here."

"I-" Kyle started to speak and then trailed off. Blaine cocked his head to the side and watched him closely. He was definitely trying to say something, but having trouble forming the words. Finally he said, "I went to a really strict Christian private school for junior high. I was beaten up pretty regularly because I was somewhat effeminate and they thought I might be gay." Blaine was surprised. Kyle really didn't seem very feminine, definitely not like some of the more flamboyant Warblers. Kyle continued in such a quiet voice that Blaine almost didn't hear him, "they weren't wrong."

"I've never said that out loud to anyone before," Kyle continued finally. He was looking at his hands and Blaine's heart went out to him. "I think my parents suspected it from the way I used to act, but I sort of just started trying to act like everyone else when I got here because I was tired of being ridiculed." Even though he was still looking down, Blaine could tell there were tears welling up in his eyes. Blaine came around the desk and sat in the chair next to Kyle.

"I'm sorry things have been so hard for you, Kyle," Blaine said, reaching out and putting his hand on Kyle's arm. "I know it doesn't make it any better, but I know how you feel. I had a pretty similar experiences in junior high. My friend and I got beaten up for being gay. I ended up having to repeat a year of school because of it and being laid up for a very long time. Dalton is a safe place, you can be whoever you are here. I just want you to know that." Kyle had looked up at Blaine while Blaine was talking and sympathy poured into his eyes. Blaine could tell that this was a very special, sensitive kid just from the way he was responding to Blaine's story, which he had come to terms with some time ago. Kyle reminded Blaine of Kurt a little bit.

"It isn't quite that simple for me," Kyle continued his own story. "My parents are staunch conservative Christians who think that being gay is a crime against nature. Instead of telling me not to listen to the bullies, my dad did everything he could think of to try and make me fight back...and 'be a man." He signed me up for karate and boxing. I hated both. I wanted to sing and dance and that wasn't okay with him. If it weren't for my uncle talking my parents into sending me to Dalton, I would still be in that same school, probably still being beat up."

Blaine wanted to cry. He thought they had moved so far forward in LGBTQ rights, but he was hearing basically the same stories he and his own friends had gone through in high school. While it wasn't that long ago that he was in high school, they had made pretty huge strides in Washington lately. It seemed that sometimes it didn't matter what they got passed...were kids every really going to be safe to be who they are? In some places huge strides seemed to be being made, like McKinley having a star football player who was out and proud. In other places it seemed to be business as usual.

"I want to thank you for trusting me enough to tell me all of this Kyle. I know it's hard," Blaine finally said.

"It wasn't that hard coming out to you, Mr. Anderson. I know you are gay too, I figured you would accept me," Kyle said.

"Of course I do!" Blaine replied. "Even still, it can be hard just saying it out loud. It makes it really real, huh?"

"Yeah," Kyle sighed. "Being gay and not wanting to be around my parents isn't the only reason I didn't want to leave Dalton, though. I kind of have a huge crush on this guy and I think he might like me back. I am too afraid to say anything though, in case I am totally reading into the situation. There is, like, only one guy who is actually really out of the closet here. Most of us are way too afraid to admit it, for fear it will get back to our parents. Even if we are making strides in politics, all of our parents are the ones who are fighting against this kind of change." Blaine blinked a couple times, wondering what he was supposed to say to that. Kids not being able to trust their parents to love them unconditionally made him almost physically ill. His own boyfriend was going through it right now, though he refused to talk to Blaine about it. Blaine had had it okay in that area. His dad definitely wasn't thrilled, but his mom had always been fine with it. They had ended up getting divorced and his dad eventually came to terms and though he and Blaine were not close, they did okay as father and son when they had to.

"I know this is a very hard thing to come to terms with, especially if you don't feel like you have support," Blaine said. "You can talk to me anytime you want to about your feelings...no judgment. I am more than willing to listen.

"Thanks, Mr. Anderson." Blaine really wished the kids could be allowed to call him Blaine. However, that was against policy at Dalton. Respect was one of the pillars and they held high standards in that area.

"So...do you want to tell me about your guy?" Blaine asked with a smile.

Kyle laughed a little. "He's on the rowing team. I used to go down to the river and watch the team practice because…" Kyle blushed and Blaine knew what was coming.

"Because they practice shirtless," Blaine supplied, laughing. "I used to do the exact same thing when I was here."

"Yeah, exactly," Kyle laughed. "Well, there is this one guy Jon, and my eyes were just always drawn to him. He isn't the most cut or anything, he is just...I don't know...he's just good-looking. He's a sophomore like me and we are in history together. We got paired to do a project and we became really good friends. But like I said, none of us are out, so none of us really know who else is gay and who isn't...officially. But I really like him and I get these feelings...like...he likes me too."

"I'm not going to tell you to go for it. It took me forever to admit I had feelings for my high school boyfriend," Blaine said. "But it sure can be magical if you do. There is no other feeling that compares to when you realize for the first time that you like someone and he likes you back."

"So is that guy...Dave...that you've mentioned a few times...is that who you fell for back then?" Kyle asked. He was really enjoying being able to talk openly about crushes and not feel like he was in any danger of someone telling him he was wrong or sinful.

"Uh, no...I didn't really like Dave in high school," Blaine replied. "And he never went here. Dalton wasn't that much different than how you describe it now when I went here. There were only three of us out of the closet my sophomore year, and the other two were dating each other. You've actually met them, they are Warbler alumni, Nick and Jeff."

"Oh, yeah!" Kyle said, his face lighting up. "They are so cute together!"

"Hahaha...yes they are," Blaine replied. "Sebastian calls them Thing 1 and Thing 2 because you will absolutely never find one without the other."

"Sebastian is seriously hot!" Kyle replied, getting sidetracked. "Did you ever date him?"

"Uh, no," Blaine replied with a laugh. "Seb was a mess in high school. He's changed a lot since then...but he will always be just a friend."

"So did you meet your crush somewhere else?" Kyle wondered.

"Nah, we met here at Dalton. In fact, he had come to spy on the Warblers," Blaine said with a laugh. "I met him coming down the grand staircase and was a goner from the instant that I saw him. Only I wouldn't allow myself to feel that for a very long time because he was being tortured by someone at his old school and what he really needed was a friend at the time. Someone who would just accept him for who he was. It took me a _long_ time to admit that I had feelings for him...even to myself."

"That's so romantic," Kyle sighed. "So when did you end up getting together?"

"Well, he actually transferred to Dalton because of the problems he had had at his old school and I started singing to him...like...all the time. But it wasn't until our warbler died on his watch that I actually admitted my feelings for him. He came in and sang _Blackbird_ to all of us as a tribute and it was so sad, but I couldn't help realizing that I wasn't really feeling sad...I was feeling like I wanted to kiss him...so I did. Luckily, he liked me back, so it all worked out." Blaine couldn't help the huge smile that had come across his face from all of his best memories. "We ended up singing a duet at Regionals together...because I sort of forced the Warbler Council to let me pick him to do a duet with."

"Wow! Go Mr. Anderson!" Kyle yelled, and Blaine just smiled.

"All of this is to say that it is totally worth the risk," Blaine finally said. "And now, you should probably get to class...but if you need to talk about anything, I am always here. But in the future we should probably try to have our conversations during non-class times. I'll give you a pass for today." Blaine went over to write out a pass for Kyle to go back to class. Kyle took it and headed toward the door.

"Mr. Anderson?" Kyle asked, as he paused in the doorway.

"Yeah?"

"Was it...the guy you dated in high school...was it the coach of New Directions?" Kyle asked, somewhat shyly.

"Yes it was...how did you know that?" Blaine asked, confused.

"I saw you two looking at each other at the invitational. You seemed like...I don't know...there seemed like there was something there...he was very good-looking. And I only saw him from far away."

"Huh...yeah…" Blaine replied, not sure he should really be discussing boyfriends with a student. "Yeah...up close...he's, well, breathtaking, actually." He managed to get out.

"You find your ex breathtaking and your smile gets ridiculously wide when you share memories of him but you're dating someone else? That's a little strange, Mr. Anderson," Kyle said with a laugh.

"Yeah, I guess it is...Kyle, your man Jon is getting a very perceptive guy," Blaine replied with his own little laugh. With that, Kyle left.

Even though the conversation had ended on a light note, Blaine grew sad again once Kyle was out of the room. He hated that his students were afraid to be themselves for fear of retribution from their own parents. He needed to talk about this with someone who would understand. There were two people he would very much like to call, and he didn't really think he should call either one. He wasn't even sure what was going on with Dave, but he didn't want to burden him with anything extra right now. And Kurt...well, he didn't know if Kurt would be receptive to talking to him or not. Actually he knew Kurt would talk to him about this. He just wasn't sure he could talk to him nonchalantly about such a charged subject, and he didn't want to say anything that would be misconstrued. Suddenly a thought popped into his mind and without even thinking, he was scrolling through his contacts and dialed someone before thinking it through.

"Hey, Killer, how's it going?" Sebastian said as he answered.

"Hey, Seb," Blaine said quietly.

"Woah. What's wrong? Did Kurt do something stupid? Do I need to come there and beat him up for you?" Sebastian replied, worriedly.

"God, no." Blaine answered. "Not everything in my life is about Kurt. This isn't...well not anymore than it is about any gay man."

"So what's wrong, Blaine?" Sebastian asked. Blaine knew he was pretty concerned when he dropped the nickname.

"It boils down to the fact that I thought we were making these huge leaps forward in equal rights and I come to find out that most of my students aren't out because they are afraid of their own right wing parents." Blaine went on to explain everything that had happened from Kurt and him stuck in the elevator to having his conversation with Kyle today.

"Yuck," Sebastian replied when the story was out there. "You've been having a really hard week, Man."

"Yeah," Blaine replied with a sigh. "And just so you know...and I don't mean this to sound how it is going to at all, but you were my third choice to have this conversation with but I haven't spoken to Dave in a couple days and Kurt...well...yeah."

"Why aren't you talking to Dave?" Sebastian queried. Blaine then launched into the whole story about Dave's parents and how Dave just sort of disappeared on him. He tried to sound okay about the whole thing, but Sebastian could hear the worry in his voice. "He'll be back," Sebastian said when Blaine finished.

"How can you be so sure?" Blaine asked. "He is totally confusing me."

"Because no one would walk away from you on purpose," Sebastian answered.

"Kurt did," Blaine choked out.

"A minor setback, Man," Sebastian answered. "He so obviously wants you back. It's a little painful to watch the little dance you guys are doing."

"He's dating someone, Seb. Someone...old," Blaine replied.

"Old?" Sebastian asked with interest. It was Sebastian after all. "How old? Thirty?"

"No, OLD," Blaine replied. "At least mid-fifties."

"Well, for starters...eew," Sebastian answered, with a smile in his voice. "And secondly, that clearly isn't going to last...because...ew."

"I don't know, when I saw them, Kurt sure didn't seem to mind," Blaine answered heavily. "Anyways, _this_ is not why I called. I'm worried about my students and you have me talking about Kurt. That's annoying, Sebastian."

"I was going to get back around to it," Sebastian answered. "The kid you told me about...Kyle? His story...is my story. Only when my parents found out about me being gay, they didn't just hide me at Dalton. They sent me to fucking France. I was barely even allowed to come home to visit, Blaine. I have a feeling I would have been expected to stay over there permanently, except that I was kicked out of two schools for going absolutely wild. When I got home, my parents sat me down and basically threatened me within an inch of my life that I was going to behave in a manner 'befitting a Smythe.' Then they sent me to Dalton. I was too scared to act out like I had been in France, so I channeled everything I had into the one thing that they really couldn't control...my sexuality. And...that's the guy you met."

"Yeah...that wasn't anyone's favorite version of Sebastian," Blaine said quietly.

"No, it wasn't," Sebastian sighed. "Least of all mine, though I didn't know it at the time. I thought I was the shit back then. And you, my friend, were presenting yourself as quite the challenge. And I do love a good challenge."

"Sebastian," Blaine warned. He really did not want to go down this road again. They had moved far past this.

"Hey, calm down, Killer," Sebastian answered. "I don't feel like that at all anymore. I have this humongous crush on someone and I am really trying to be the guy I think he wants...the guy I really wished I had been all along. Back then all I wanted was to hurt my parents in any way that I could. The problem is, I wasn't hurting them...I was hurting me. They couldn't have given a rat's ass about what I was up to, as long as I could be presented as the dutiful son who got good grades and played LaCrosse. They just failed to mention to all their friends that my preferred entertainment is singing and dancing and my preferred company happens to be that of men. Unfortunately I was tied to them financially, so I had to somewhat respect their wishes or be cut off from my trust fund. But more and more of that becomes solely available to me as I get older and it drives them insane, because they can't control me anymore. I am a freakin' dance major for God Sakes...do you have any idea how not in the plan that is for the only Smythe heir?" Sebastian was actually chuckling now.

"You do seem in a much better place now, Seb," Blaine replied.

"Yeah but it took me years to get here," Sebastian answered. "When I went to UCLA, I continued to behave like I had at Dalton for the first couple of years. I slept my way through half the campus. The problem was, the guys I really wanted to hang out with wouldn't even give me the time of day. And one day I realized that these guys reminded me of some guys back home...namely you and Kurt. They wanted relationships and steered clear of the guy who was going to leave five seconds after the sex was over. Even though I didn't want to be that guy, I didn't know how to change and I really didn't know how to change my image. So I decided to get a counselor and kind of figure some shit out." Blaine sucked in his breath audibly. He was so ashamed at not seeing past Sebastian's bravado to his pain back then.

"God, Seb, I wish I would have known all this in high school," Blaine finally said. "Maybe I could have helped-"

"There is no way anything you would have done would have helped me, Blaine," Sebastian cut in. "In high school, I thought I was the king of the world. I only wanted one thing from you back then, and telling you any of this, would not have helped my case in that department because you were so annoyingly in love with Kurt. All I wanted to do was break you guys up, to prove that kind of love wasn't real."

"But it is real, Seb. It's still there, even if we aren't together," Blaine answered quietly.

"I know that. And that is why I wish you would get your heads out of you asses and figure things out...why do you both want to be miserable so badly?" Sebastian nearly shouted. He never would have believed in high school that anything could be more annoying than these two innocent teenagers so dopey in love and letting the whole world see it. Now he knew there was something more annoying. It was these two grown men still completely dopey in love with each other but refusing to be together. Blaine sighed. On some level he completely agreed with Sebastian, but he didn't know where things were with his current boyfriend and he still wasn't going to be that guy that couldn't stick through the tough times. He'd been that guy once and he knew what happened. "You still there, Killer," Sebastian asked after Blaine had been silent for a couple minutes.

"Yeah, I'm here," Blaine said. He didn't really know what else he was supposed to say. He was actually shocked that Sebastian would share all of this with him. "Thanks for telling me this. You make so much more sense now," he finally said.

"Yeah, I can count on less than one hand the people who know all of this and you are one of them," Sebastian answered. "I trust you Blaine. You are one of the best guys I know. The reason I told you all of this was because you have a rare opportunity with the Dalton guys. If I had had a mentor back then...someone older who was willing to tell me that my parents were wrong and that I was an okay person, maybe I wouldn't have had to go so far into completely screwed up before I realized that what my parents did to me was not actually okay."

"So how do I do that, do you think?" Blaine asked.

"By doing what you did today, Man," Sebastian answered. "Be there. Listen. Tell them that they are worth something. Dalton is awesome about being a safe space, but the teachers don't really get all that involved with the students. And a lot of the teachers are older than dirt. Most of those guys live at school and don't have anyone to really tell them what's what. You know what they are going through because you just went through it yourself. You gotta _Dead Poet's Society_ the crap out of them, Killer!"

"Carpe diem," Blaine answered, laughing.

"Damn straight!" Sebastian answered, with a grin in his voice. "Now, tell me more about being trapped in that elevator with Hummel...how'd you get out?"

"I told you, Seb," Blaine answered with a sigh. "There was only one way out. Sue the Loon made sure of it."

"Ahhh...and?"

"And what," Blaine asked, exasperated.

"And...was it amazing and as totally hot as it sounds?" Seb asked, the grin on his face apparent in his voice.

"Sebastian…" Blaine warned. He was not getting into this.

"Blaine…" Sebastian answered in the exact same way. Sebastian waited. He knew what Killer was going to say, eventually. He'd either wait him out or be hung up on.

"Yesss." Blaine finally hissed after about a minute. "It was one of the hottest moments of my life, actually," he said in a somewhat more normal tone.

"Ha! I knew it!" Sebastian exclaimed. "That Coach Sue is one of my new heroes. I am sooo taking a page out of her book with…" he trailed off. He wasn't going to divulge the name of his crush yet. The chances of Blaine knowing him were slim to none, but he just wasn't ready to make it real to other people at this point.

"Um, Sebastian," Blaine said. "Keep in mind that, while yes, it can be hot to be trapped in a small space with the one you love...if one or both of you don't really want to be there, it is also extremely frustrating and could make that person react very badly."

"Way to ruin my fun, Killer," Sebastian said with a sigh. "I know you are right, though. I guess I will just have to continue to wear him down with my charm." Blaine laughed at that. He was genuinely glad to find that Sebastian was interested in something real with someone. He was more than a little curious as to who, but he could let that go for now. This conversation had been amazing for him.

"Seb, I feel like this is one of those conversations that I am going to remember for the rest of my life. Truly thank you for talking to me," Blaine said seriously. Blaine glanced at the clock. "I'm gonna have to go. The Warblers are going to be here for rehearsal in a matter of minutes."

"Yeah, go take care of business, my friend," Sebastian said. "I'll catch you around."

"Kay, sounds good. Talk to you later."

"Oh and Blaine? Get back together with Kurt. And don't forget to invite me to the wedding," Sebastian said and then Blaine heard a click, signaling the end of the call.


	19. Chapter 19

_A/N: this is the same chapter. I found a glaring mistake, so I had to fix it. Hope you guys are enjoying the story!_

* * *

Blaine went out to greet his Warblers. He was extremely frustrated with how the week was going, work-wise, because he had a great idea for a song for sectionals and had been trying to work on it all week. Instead he had been talking to parents and not getting the harmonies done for the new song. He had told the guys that it would definitely be ready to rehearse Wednesday (today) and he hated that he had to let them down again.

"Can't you just tell us what the song is, Mr. Anderson?" Tristan, the head Warbler begged, instead of leading the guys in vocal warm ups, which is what he was supposed to be doing. Tristan was a show boat and he loved when they added new songs in so that he could continue to show off.

"No, not until I have it ready," Blaine replied. "The second you guys leave this room, the rest of my day is going to be working on harmonies and then tomorrow we will have it." The guys settled in to run through every song they had in their repertoire to date. Blaine's favorite part was always when they did a bunch of the songs he used to sing with his own Warblers. He had taught them _Bills, Bills, Bills, Animal, Hey Soul Sister,_ and _Raise Your Glass_ when he first arrived, just for fun and to loosen them up when they were still uptight because of their old faculty advisor. They were a great bunch of guys and he was grateful for how they let him lead them. As Warbler rehearsal was always just before lunch, he sent them off to eat as the bell rang. Kyle smiled and waved as he left class and Blaine returned the gesture.

After the guys had left, Blaine sat down at the piano to finally work on the song he was planning. He had had an epiphany when he was working out and _Suit and Tie_ by Justin Timberlake had come on his iPod. It was as if the song was made for the Warblers to sing it! Obviously they would have to take out most of the Jay-Z parts and just concentrate on the actual song without the rapping, but it was going to be so good. Instead of a horn section, their would be Warblers doing all of the music. Blaine could almost hear it. He got straight to work, determined that this was going to be ready by tomorrow for Warbler rehearsal. It was getting close to the time when they were going to have to add in extra rehearsals after school every day, instead of just twice a week so they would be ready for Sectionals. He had just begun to work when his phone, which was sitting on top of the piano, buzzed. He was figuring maybe Dave was finally calling, and was trying not to be annoyed that he was being interrupted. He was extremely surprised to see Mercedes' name and picture show up on his phone instead.

"Hello?" Blaine asked into the phone.

"Blaine!" Mercedes responded, excited. "I'm so glad I caught you. I need you to come to McKinley and help me with something!"

"Um, Mercedes," Blaine replied, slightly annoyed. "I work at Dalton. I'm not going to help you with the New Directions."

"No, no, no…" Mercedes replied. "I want you to help with Rachel. She needs an intervention, Blaine."

"Oh my God! Is she okay?" Blaine asked, confused as to why Rachel would need an intervention. She had seemed fine the last time he had seen her. Was she doing drugs? Drinking heavily? He couldn't imagine. And then he became suspicious. "This isn't going to be like a Barbra-vention or some such nonsense, right? Because I'm pretty busy here, Mercedes and I really don't have time-"

"No, it's not that," Mercedes told him. "She needs to get back to New York, Blaine. And we need to remind her of that. I want all the guys to sing her a song about New York so she will remember what she is missing," she went on. _Oh for the love of Peter, Paul, and Mary_ , Blaine thought.

"While that's a nice idea, Mercedes," Blaine began, trying to be nice. "I have work to do. I can't just randomly drop everything every time one of you guys gets a whim to sing something out." Blaine immediately felt bad for saying that, as he was always one for singing it out, but it was the truth. He needed to do his own job. He would love to help, he knew Rachel needed a shove back in the right direction, but he just didn't have the time.

"But Blaine, we need you!" Mercedes replied. "I want you guys to sing _Arthur's Theme_ and you are the only one who is going to be able to pull that off on the piano on such short notice. Come on Blaine! For Rachel? Isn't Warbler rehearsal over for the day? Surely you can take whatever else you are working on home with you, right?" Blaine heaved out a sigh. He knew he could work on the music wherever, but he still thought this was a lot to ask.

"Mercedes," Blaine tried a different tactic. "I don't think Kurt would be too pleased if I just show up out of the blue for this, do you? We are in a better place, but I don't want to make him uncomfortable on his own stomping grounds."

"First of all, they're your stomping grounds too, Blaine. You graduated from McKinley, same as all of us," Mercedes said, listing reasons why his argument wasn't valid. "Secondly, this isn't about Kurt at all. It's about Rachel. You love Rachel. Don't you want to help her get back to where she belongs?" Blaine sighed again, realizing that he was going to help. He really didn't have the time, but he did care about Rachel and want to see her get back to her happy place. And he had promised her that he was going to help her reclaim who she was, when she first arrived back in Lima.

"Fine," he said, rolling his eyes. "I'll be there in a few. But I'm bringing my work with me, as I am now probably going to be working late into the night."

"That's fine! Great! See you in a bit," Mercedes replied and disconnected before he could change his mind. _Um, rude_ , Blaine thought. He sighed and walked back to his office. He knew the music for _Arthur's theme_ was in the music cabinet because he had painstakingly gone over every piece of music Dalton had to offer...more than once. He could probably sit down and play the song from memory, because he had played it a few times before, but if he was doing this, it was going to sound good and he was going to to go over the music. He pulled out the sheet music and went back out to the baby grand in the choir room.

"Once in a life you find her...someone who turns your world around…" he began to sing, not knowing he was being watched. It was a good song at least, great piano song, actually. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught movement coming in from the door.

"Mr. Anderson?" asked one of his Warblers, when he knew he had been spotted. Blaine stopped playing and gave the student his full attention.

"What can I do for you, Paul?" Blaine asked his student.

"Um, I've sort of been nominated to come in and tell you something... What was the song? It sounded good," Paul dodged, instead of getting to the point.

"It's called _Arthur's Theme_ , but a lot of people think it's called _Between the Moon and New York City_ ," Blaine answered. Obviously Paul had something to say, but he wasn't going to force him.

"Are you going to teach that to us?" Paul asked.

"Um, probably not. It's a little 80's-tastic for most of you guys," Blaine replied with a laugh. "A friend of mine asked me to go over it so I can play it later," Blaine explained.

"Oh. You should teach it to us, though. It sounds good," Paul said, leaning on the piano. He seemed to be about to say something else, but then went silent.

"I think you guys will like what I have planned a little more," Blaine responded.

"Ah! The secret song!" Paul said, smiling. He went on this time. "Kyle said his mom came and threw a ridiculous fit this morning. The guys asked me to come in and tell you we're sorry that our parents are being idiots. Most of us who told them were just frustrated at coming in last. It had nothing to do with you being a bad chaperone, but of course that is all our parents heard. We just wanted you to know we are sorry you are having a bad week and we hope you don't give up on us," Paul finished quietly.

"They made you come alone?" Blaine asked, trying not to smile. This is exactly the kind of thing that the Warblers had always made him do when he was a student. The guys obviously place a lot of trust in Paul. Truth be told, he thought that Paul was exceedingly more talented than Tristan and he would have loved for Paul to be the frontman, but it wasn't up to him. Tristan was a senior, Paul was a sophomore. The Warblers had voted Tristan to be the lead and Blaine had no say in that. Blaine realized that the talent and sincerity was clearly all hidden in the sophomore class. He saw big things coming up for the Warblers in the next couple years. Too bad he would only have this year to dedicate to them.

"Um, yeah," Paul answered. "No one wanted to overwhelm you, but we wanted you to know how sorry we are that this is happening. Everyone...well everyone except for Tristan...totally knows why you haven't been able to give us the new song yet. You've been dealing with stuff that we caused." Blaine was still playing Arthur's Theme very quietly while Paul talked and Paul was extremely impressed. "How do you do that?" he asked. "You aren't even looking at the sheet music. It was true. Blaine had been focused on Paul. He hadn't even been fully conscious that he was still playing.

"Oh, I've played this a few times before," Blaine said, by way of explanation.

"A few as in like a hundred? Because I'm not sure I could play a song like that without practicing over and over," Paul replied.

"No. A few as in...a few," Blaine replied, not understanding what the big deal was. "As far as everything you are saying Paul, go back and put everyone's minds at rest. I'm fine. I'm a big boy. I can handle what's been going on. Is dealing with angry parents my favorite thing to do? Obviously not. But I'm not going anywhere. As I told Kyle this morning, we will get through this. And it is all okay. I don't blame you guys one bit for being frustrated with the way things turned out at McKinley. And you should never hold things back from your parents because of what you feel the consequences might be. I'm not upset with any of you at all."

"Thanks, Mr. Anderson!" Paul said, giving him a blinding smile. "You are the coolest teacher!"

"No problem, Paul," Blaine replied, laughing. "Just so you know, I was the guy who always had to smooth things over with different people when the Warblers stepped in it too. So I know how this feels. Out of curiosity...shouldn't it have been Tristan, though?"

"Um...well…" Paul hedged. He didn't want to come out and say that Tristan had flat out refused, stating that it was Mr. Anderson's job to deal with whatever. "I'm usually a little more diplomatic," he finally stated.

"Yeah, I think that's probably true," Blaine answered. "I have a feeling you will be head Warbler someday, Paul. The guys obviously put a lot of faith in you. I hope you try out for some solos while I am still here, though, okay?"

"I will," Paul beamed, at having been requested to try out for solos from someone as talented as Blaine Anderson. "And for what it's worth, I play the piano, but you are crazy good at it. I wish I was good enough just to be able to sit down and play a song I've only played a few times from memory."

"Practice, that's what makes you good," Blaine replied.

"Thanks again, Mr. Anderson," Paul said on his way out the door. Blaine smiled widely as he ran through _Arthur's Theme_ , actually looking at the music a couple times. It was nothing too hard. He didn't think he would even need to bring the music with him. He was so happy that he was here coaching the Warblers. He wasn't happy about how he ended up here, but if he had never gotten this gig, he would have never met these guys. He had never really understood why Mr. Schue would choose teaching over performing. Schue had the talent and he totally could have made it on Broadway, no question. Instead, he chose to hang with a bunch of misfit teenagers, helping them pursue their dreams. Blaine had always thought he was nuts. He was totally starting to get it. Blaine still wanted to perform, but after being with the Warblers for awhile, he was seeing that this was also a good fit for him. He was going to consider a double major with performance and education when he went back to college.

But today he needed to get himself together and get over to McKinley to help make Rachel's dream come true. He was much less upset about being called in to help now. Paul had taken the sting out of not having the music done yet. He gathered up the items he needed to take with him and put them in his messenger bag, grabbed his jacket and made to head out the door. The kids were still hanging around the hallway, as it was still lunch hour. Blaine headed for the staircase when he heard someone shriek his name. He glanced over in that direction and saw Kyle standing with a few guys. He was standing very close to one boy and the boy was looking at him adoringly. This had to be Jon.

Kyle ran up to Blaine and stopped just short of him. Blaine had braced for impact, afraid Kyle was going to run right into him.

"Mr. Anderson, you'll never guess what happened!" Kyle singsonged, giddily. Blaine couldn't help but think that this was the version of Kyle he must have been suppressing. He was so carefree that Blaine was absolutely struck by the difference.

"What happened?" Blaine wanted to know.

"Jon heard about my mom," Kurt said, gesturing back to the boy he'd been standing with a few seconds ago. Jon was now sporting a blush, but also a wide grin. "He told me he had been so scared that I was leaving and that he almost couldn't handle it because he _likes_ me, Mr. Anderson! Like...a lot!" Kyle gestured for Jon to come over and meet Blaine. "I told him I like him too and now we are going on a _date_!" Kyle's excitement was absolutely infectious. Blaine was so happy that they seemed to work it out. As soon as Jon walked up, Kyle squealed, "Jon, this is Mr. Anderson, the teacher I've been telling you about!"

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Anderson," Jon said, reaching out his hand to shake Blaine's. Blaine was struck by how reserved Jon seemed to be versus how bubbly Kyle was. It reminded him of him and Kurt again. Blaine shook Jon's hand and exchanged pleasantries as Kyle babbled on about how great glee club was. Jon was smiling at Kyle the whole time, obviously thinking he was the cutest thing in the whole world. Blaine knew the feeling well from his own high school experiences. After a short time, Blaine excused himself from the lovestruck teenagers and finally left the building, smiling about how Kyle had completely transformed in a matter of a few hours and a well-timed ask out. Blaine was really happy for him and it strengthened what he was thinking about how teaching might be an option for the future.

* * *

A short time later, Blaine arrived at McKinley and headed into the auditorium. The Audio-Visual club was busily making a scene from New York. Blaine had always been in awe of McKinley's AV club. Not only were they amazing at what they did, they seemed to be willing to drop everything at a moment's notice to pull together whatever whim the glee club or the musical or whatever wanted to throw at them. This was not normal for most high schools. He imagined most AV clubs would take days to gather together what these guys seemed to do in an hour, and that was if they were willing to do it.

"Looks good, Everyone," Blaine said to the room in general. He knew they didn't get a lot of kudos for their work either, so he wanted to make sure to give props where it was due. There was a chorus of thank yous as Blaine sat down at the piano, which had been pushed center stage and began to go over the song one more time. He was really checking for the piano to be in tune at this point. Just then, Mercedes rushed in.

"Thank God, you're here!" Mercedes shouted. "Okay, so what I'm thinking is that each guy can take a line or two and then you can all come in at choruses and such."

"Okay," Blaine replied, trying not to be annoyed. "Has it ever occurred to all of you guys that with a little more preparation, things wouldn't have to seem so haphazardly thrown together?"

"Blaine, don't start. You know how things work around here," Mercedes replied with a reproachful look. "And stop it with this 'you guys' crap. You are a part of 'us guys,' whether you want to be or not." Blaine rolled his eyes, but was secretly glad that Mercedes kept insisting he was part of the team. A lot of the time he had felt like an extension of Kurt when it came to the McKinley friends. Once he and Kurt were no longer together, it felt like he was less important to everyone. He was happy to see that this appeared to only be in his own mind.

"Well...okay. So where is everyone? Let's practice some," he finally said, deciding to ditch his mood.

"Well, all of the students are still in class. As soon as school is out, I will go grab them all and you can work with them a little before we bring Rachel in. I'm hoping Kurt will have some ideas on wardrobe. I mean, it isn't completely necessary, but with this set, I feel like you guys should be wearing something classy," Mercedes said, seemingly all in one breath. Blaine felt a small hitch in his throat at the mention of Kurt. He knew he would be around, so he would just have to get used to the idea quickly.

Over the next hour, Blaine worked on _Suit and Tie_ for the Warblers, while the AV club continued to put together the set around him.

"Hey, man," Sam said, walking in. "Whatcha doin'?"

"Oh, Mercedes has me over here to put on a 'let's get Rachel back to New York' thing," Blaine replied, marking the sheet music in front of him. He was concentrating on getting the melody out for his song and he was wondering if Tristan was going to be able to handle it vocally. JT sang this song really high with absolutely no problems, but it wasn't really Tristan's range. He was wondering how upset the guy would be to have to hand off the solo to someone else. He was lamenting the loss of Jane a little bit. It would have been really interesting to have a girl sing lead on it, very gender-bending. And of course Blaine was always a fan of that.

"No, I know about the song we are all doing," Sam replied, bring Blaine out of his reverie. "I mean what are you doing right now? Is that song... _Suit and Tie_?"

"Yep," Blaine replied. "I'm hoping to have the Warblers do it for Sectionals. I am just a little worried that the lead singer of the Warblers won't really be up for the lead on this. I may have to get one of the younger guys whose voices are still higher pitched. My lead is not going to take too kindly to that." It was actually nice to have someone to bounce stuff off of. Since Dave left, Blaine hadn't had the opportunity for a lot of adult conversation aside from angry parents. And Blaine knew that Sam wouldn't say anything about his song choice to anyone. He was his best friend and completely trustworthy.

"Well, you gotta do what's best for everyone, obviously," Sam replied in true Sam fashion. For Sam it always came down to the team. Blaine supposed it had something to do with his sports-mindedness.

"Yeah, we'll see," Blaine answered. "How much longer til you think Mercedes can get everyone in here to practice?"

"Well, school's out in about thirty, so I assume she will have everyone shuffle this way after that," Sam replied.

"How are things going between you two?" Blaine asked. He hadn't had a chance to catch up on Sam's life at all lately and he was feeling out of the loop.

"I don't know, Man," Sam replied, with a little bit of a grimace. "Rachel and I have been having some moments lately, but with Mercedes around...I'm having a little bit of trouble figuring out what I want. I mean, I still have really strong feelings for Mercedes...like really strong feelings. But dude...she doesn't seem interested and she obviously isn't here very often…" Sam trailed off and Blaine felt for him. Apparently Blaine wasn't the only one with conflicted feelings towards two people.

"Sounds like you and Mercedes need to do some talking," Blaine replied.

"Probably. Hey listen," Sam said, changing the subject abruptly. "I have some inventory to do in the locker room. I'll be back when everyone else is." Sam sauntered off as Blaine got back down to his music.

* * *

Kurt was having a fairly routine day at McKinley. Mercedes had been kidnapping Rachel a lot lately to go talk about...something, so Kurt was having to pick up the slack. He was trying to get the kids on board with the Burt Bacharach lesson plan for the week, but the kids weren't really having it. They weren't interested in dusting off a bunch of old broadway-esque songs. Sometimes Kurt wondered how Mr. Schue always managed to get the old glee club on board with lessons such as this one.

The more he thought about it, the more he realized it was because Mr. Schue always made everything a competition...a friendly competition, but a competition nonetheless. He decided to see if he could come up with a competition for this lesson to get the kids into the music. He racked his brain all day to come up with an interesting competition, but all he could come up with was "boys against girls." As that had always been Kurt's least favorite competition when he was in school, he really didn't want to watch these kids do it. It was time to let the gender thing go and let everyone sing what they are comfortable with.

At lunchtime, he started wandering the halls aimlessly, looking for inspiration in the stuff hanging on the walls. He wanted to get a feel for what the kids at the school were into. He knew that the year after he graduated, the kids were really into dressing up like superheros and Finn had told him how he had worked that into a lesson. Thinking of Finn was always bittersweet for Kurt. He missed his brother so much, but at the same time, whenever he thought of him it brought up the amazing man that he was. Kurt would have loved to have Finn here to talk to and bounce ideas off of. He was certain that if Finn were around, the glee club never would have died in the first place, so there would be no need to reboot it. Finn would have never let Sue or anyone else take glee club away from the school. Moving along this line of thought was getting too painful for Kurt and he had to pull himself back into the present.

Suddenly he found himself standing directly in front of the "elevator." It was still there. Kurt wondered how much of the school's budget Sue had wasted installing a fake elevator. If the administration ever caught wind that she had done that, he supposed she would be fired and maybe brought up on charges for mismanaging funds to the point of stealing. However, Sue never seemed to get caught at any of the crazy that she surrounded herself with, so why would it start now.

The funny thing about the elevator is that it was one of the nicest things that had happened to Kurt in a long while. He had no desire to ever be trapped like that again, but being trapped with Blaine had been pretty darn near perfect. Well, until Blaine brought up Karofsky. Listening to Blaine talk about his current boyfriend after they had spent a wonderfully cozy bit of time playing games had been like sitting in front of a warm fire only to have a cold rain come and douse the fire and make him soaked. Kurt realized he was getting nowhere with trying to get into the heads of the McKinley students by doing what he was doing. Instead, he was staring at an elevator like a crazy person. He wished he could talk to Blaine. Rachel had jabbered on to him about the rapport that Blaine seemed to have built up with the Warblers. Kurt wished he could pick Blaine's brain about how he managed to do that. He didn't think Blaine would take too kindly to sharing secrets with the competition though. He sighed and headed back to the choir room. Maybe Burt Bacharach week had been too out there for these kids to embrace at this early stage.

Kurt spent the rest of the school day trying to come up with something else the kids might take better to. As soon as school ended, all the guys from glee club and Sam had headed down to the choir room to practice a song to sing for the lesson. None of the guys seemed that interested in it and everyone was just sitting around talking. Pretty soon Mercedes came into the room.

"Sorry to break up your boy time, boys, but we have a crisis and I need to recruit you guys," she said, commandeering the room. "It's Rachel. Now we all know that she needed to come back here and lick her wounds and I think it's great that she got the glee club up and running again." Kurt cleared his throat to remind her that he too was in on that. "And you're doing a great job too Kurt...with, you know, whatever your thesis is. But what I do know is that Rachel's destiny is bigger than this place. And it's not just that she's scared to try again...it's almost like she's forgotten that." Roderick and Spencer chimed in at the same time (annoying each other...they weren't close at all) asking how they were supposed to help. Mercedes went on to say that they needed to make Rachel homesick for New York. "Artie is already in and I've put in a call to Blaine. Sorry if that's awkward for you Kurt. But if you guys would follow me," she said, gesturing towards the door.

Kurt momentarily looked like a deer caught in headlights. He had been wanting to talk to Blaine all day. Seeing him in person seemed so much better except that now he was feeling massively guilty. He was supposedly dating someone and all he could think about today was his ex. He let out an exasperated sigh as he slowly followed the others out the door.

As they walked to the auditorium, Mercedes filled them in on her plan. "Kurt, do you think you could pull together some sort of costumes for this? I realize it's last minute…" she trailed off.

"Yes, it is last minute! Why do we never plan these thing in advance?!" Kurt replied, possibly a little too harshly. He was still reeling from the fact that Blaine was apparently in the building.

"God, I have two Blaines today," Mercedes huffed. "This. Is. For. Rachel. Your best friend...remember her?"

"What do you mean you have two Blaines?" Kurt asked confused.

"He said the exact same damn thing. I realize it's last minute...but that's how we do things. Get on board! Costumes?"

"Yeah, I already had an idea," Kurt replied quietly. Mercedes was in full diva mode and it was time to stay out of her way.


	20. Chapter 20

"Okay, guys," Mercedes said, as they all walked out on stage. "Blaine is going to teach you a line or two from the song you're singing." Blaine looked around at the guys and wondered where Kurt was. Before he could ask, Mercedes brought over a tuxedo on a hanger. Addressing everyone she said, "Kurt's in the costume room getting these tuxes ready for you to wear. One by one you need to go in there so he can do measurements. He's going to be able to work wonders with double-sided tape, however he has told me to tell you that there can be NO choreography in this number or it will all fall apart." To Blaine she said, "he sent this one in for you and said it would fit you, so you can do what you need to do without having to step away."

Of course Kurt knew his measurements. Blaine swallowed his disappointment about not getting to be one on one with Kurt for a few moments. He realized his place was out here teaching all these guys a song that in all likelihood they didn't know. He wondered again why the New Directions were so "fly by the seat of their pants." Surely this could have waited until next week and been good...or at least better. He had to retract his own line of thinking once he got started. The guys picked up the song in no time flat. The McKinley students in the group actually worried him a little on behalf of his own glee club. Just like the New Directions he was a part of, these guys could pick up a song with a couple of sing throughs and they were all extremely talented. His guys picked things up very quickly too, but with no music to back them up, it added an extra level of stress and they definitely took more than an hour to learn a song.

Blaine worked with each person who wanted to have a line in the performance. He noticed them disappearing backstage one by one, presumably to get measured as one by one they came back out wearing one of the tailed tuxes that had been sent out to him. He smiled at Kurt's use of top hats and tails. They were the perfect outfit for this particular number as Arthur had worn a top hat and tails in the movie. Blaine had never actually seen the movie, but he had seen pictures of some of the scenes. Leave it to Kurt to know something like that. He briefly wondered where the heck that Kurt found the tuxes, but then he dismissed it. Kurt was almost magical when it came to wardrobe. Blaine noticed that not only was he able to find a tuxedo to fit all the different shapes he was dealing with, they all seem to fit fairly well. Blaine just shook his head and kept working on the song.

About twenty minutes before it was time to perform, Mercedes shooed Blaine off to go get his own tux on. He headed back to a dressing room backstage and quickly changed. He was lucky that he wore bow ties all the time because that was the trickiest part. He had actually had to help Sam and the football player, whose name he couldn't remember, tie theirs because Kurt was getting bottle necked and hadn't had time himself. Blaine headed back out to the stage and the tall one...Mason, asked him to run through his line with him a few more times. Blaine was happy to do it, though he knew it was getting close to time and Kurt still hadn't made an appearance. Blaine had been saving a line for Kurt in case he wanted one, but there was going to be little to no time to rehearse it if he didn't come out.

Mason started singing his line as Blaine played it through again. At that moment he saw Kurt come out from the shadows from backstage and he completely flubbed a couple of the notes. Mason stopped singing and looked at him, confused. It was just as well that Mason stopped singing because Blaine had completely stopped playing a couple notes later. Kurt wasn't paying any attention to him. He was walking with his head down, carrying his top hat and seemingly trying to adjust something with his sleeves. Apparently he thought they were too short or long or something. Blaine had always loved Kurt's fashion sense. There was rarely ever a time when what Kurt was wearing didn't absolutely floor him. However, he didn't generally go in for a look that was considered so traditionally handsome, such as a tuxedo like this. Blaine's mouth went dry at the sight of him and he was off the piano bench and walking over to him without even thinking about it.

"Kurt you look-" Blaine started to say once he was standing right in front of Kurt. Kurt's head snapped up at the sound of Blaine's voice, so close.

"Like everyone else here," Kurt cut him off, wryly. Kurt didn't mind the look, but of course he did like his fashion choices to make him stand out a bit.

"That is not what I was going to say at all, Blaine replied. "You look amazing," he breathed out. Kurt smiled at him.

"Blaine, we are dressed exactly the same. And exactly the same as everyone else on this stage," Kurt replied, holding back a wink. _What the heck is happening right now?_ he wondered.

"So do you want to run through the song a couple times?" Blaine asked, trying desperately not dig himself into an even deeper hole. Clearly Kurt wasn't interested in hearing how hot he looked like this. "I saved a line for you, if you want it."

"I could hear you guys practicing from backstage. I think I can easily pick up a harmony and sing it through without any practice," Kurt replied. "It's really close to time. I don't need a line. You do whatever you were going to have me sing." Kurt reached up and put the top hat on his head. Blaine had to bite back a smile. The hat was slightly too big and made Kurt look a little like a kid playing dress up. And even that was sexy. _God, what is wrong with me?_ Blaine wondered.

"Okay!" he said loudly, to everyone in the room. "Let's do this thing. Everyone ready?" Everyone murmured assents and went to find positions on the stage. They were meant to look like they were all lounging around a New York park, dressed to the nines. Blaine knew that his cue to start playing was when Mercedes and Rachel sat down next to the statue of liberty, which was sitting in the audience. He knew they were due to arrive at anytime. Meanwhile, he was staring at the profile of Kurt that he could just make out through the piano. He wanted so badly for everyone else to leave so that he could serenade just him. He really needed to get a grip. He assumed he was having these types of thoughts because he hadn't seen his boyfriend in several days and he was lonely as hell. Just when his thoughts were starting to get really out of control, he heard the door to the auditorium open and he relaxed slightly. He went into performance mode and let go of any other feelings.

The performance was darn near perfect. Blaine couldn't believe how well this was coming off with such a little time to pull it together. The only time it almost crashed around him was when Kurt came to stand behind the piano. Blaine literally froze for half a second when he felt Kurt close to him again. He could hear him singing harmony and he refused to even look that way as he was very afraid that he would just stop playing again if he did. Instead he focused all his energy on Rachel. Once the song had ended, he was up off the piano bench extremely fast and walked out to ask her what she thought. He had to get away from such close proximity to Kurt. He was able to cover why he practically ran across the stage fairly well though. Rachel thanked them and said she wasn't quite ready to go back. Blaine hoped they had helped in some way though.

After Blaine, Rachel, and Mercedes' conversation, everyone started drifting off to get changed. Blaine headed back to the dressing room he was in to get his regular clothes back on. Once he had returned his tuxedo back to the costume room, he was left without anything to do. He briefly considered grabbing some take out and heading home, but that sounded incredibly lonely. He walked out on the stage and once again appreciated the scenery that the AV club had pulled together. He decided to use the piano here for a little longer to work on harmonies for _Suit and Tie._ He missed hanging around McKinley and even though he was alone here, it didn't seem quite as lonely. He sat back down to work. Everyone else had wandered off, presumably in the direction of their homes. Or so he thought.

"What are you doing?" his favorite voice asked him, as he walked out of the shadows. Blaine's head snapped up, as he saw Kurt approach and a silly little grin shadowed over his face. He had thought he was alone.

"Oh, I'm working on something for the Warblers," Blaine replied, trying to pull off nonchalance, even though his heart beat had become a little erratic when he realized he was alone with Kurt. Kurt had reached the side of the piano by this time.

"Can you tell me what it is?" Kurt asked.

"Promise not to steal it if I do?" Blaine asked coyly. Kurt didn't pick up on his joking tone.

"Blaine!" We didn't steal Jane from you!" Kurt replied, hurt in his voice. "She wanted to come here!"

"Kurt, relax!" Blaine replied, laughing at his reaction. "I was totally kidding! I know what happened with Jane." Kurt took a breath. Kurt was still a little worried about how things were between them. They had agreed that they were past all the animosity, but they still hadn't really even spoken to each other since the elevator incident. Kurt really missed him and wanted them to be close again. "So I had this sort of idea," Blaine said, trying to break the tension by telling him what his plans were. "I am going to have the Warblers learn _Suit and Tie_ by Justin Timberlake and hopefully we can use it for sectionals." Kurt's smile grew wide at that.

"Blaine, that's brilliant!" Kurt told him. "That song will be amazing for you guys!" Blaine fairly beamed. He had only told a couple other people his idea and they had all thought it sounded like a good one. Why was Kurt's praise just so much more important to him than anyone else's, Blaine wondered. Perhaps it was because Kurt was really enthusiastic in his response. Or perhaps it was because Blaine knew that Kurt got the vision of what he was trying to accomplish. Kurt had been a Warbler too, after all. Or perhaps it was because it was...Kurt. Suddenly he really didn't want to go home to an empty apartment.

"So, I'm at a place where I could take a break," Blaine started to ask a little nervously. "Would you want to get a cup of coffee?"

"Oh, Blaine, I'd love to," Kurt began. "Unfortunately my dad and Carole are coming into town tonight from Washington. I promised them I would make them dinner. I really need to get home and get that started or we won't be eating tonight." Blaine schooled his face so that his extreme disappointment didn't show through.

"Another time, then," Blaine replied. He started to pack his messenger bag with the sheet music he was working on.

"Don't you need to get home to Karofsky anyways?" Kurt asked, confused.

"Oh, he's with his dad," Blaine answered. He wasn't going to go into the whole bit about how Dave had basically been missing in action for the week.

"Oh!" Kurt replied. "Well, then you should come have dinner with us!"

"Kurt-" Blaine started to object.

"Blaine, don't overthink this. Just come. My parents would love to see you," Kurt cut him off. "You have to eat...I'm making lasagna…" Kurt knew of Blaine's love of his lasagna. Blaine really wanted to go. He was so lonely and the thought of going to a family dinner at the Hummels was definitely enticing. He'd always been accepted into their fold as if he was one of the family. Blaine began to laugh and shake his head. He knew he should go home and work.

"Kurt, I really need to get this done," he tried to object again. "I promised the Warblers it would be ready by tomorrow."

"Have you forgotten that we have a piano at my house? A piano that you happen to love," Kurt answered him. "You can work while I cook. Come on...you know you hate being alone. Just come over and join us." Kurt's arguments had completely worn him down.

"Okay," Blaine replied. "As long as you really don't mind if I work while you cook. I'll feel bad not helping though."

"You will be helping," Kurt replied cheekily. "I expect you to sing for your supper, My Friend." Blaine grinned and followed Kurt out to the parking lot. They parted at their cars and drove separately over to Kurt's family home.

When they arrived in the Hummel house, Kurt gestured for Blaine to go on into the den where the piano was while he made his way back to the kitchen. Blaine walked into the den and sat down at his very favorite piano in the world. It was special to him because of how special it was to Kurt. It was an old upright piano that Burt had bought for Elizabeth on their fifth wedding anniversary. Kurt got all of his musical talent from his mother. She had been a music teacher and had taught Kurt how to play. Kurt had given up playing piano for a long time after his mother died, but neither Burt or Kurt could ever consider giving up the piano. The first time Kurt had invited Blaine over to his house he had showed the piano to him and explained why it was so important. He had begged Blaine to play the piano. The boys had sat next to each other on the piano bench and Blaine played for Kurt for hours. It had been one of the most romantic things either of them had experienced to that date. Blaine had fallen in love with the old, scarred piano from that day and he played it almost every time he went over to the Hummels'.

Blaine lovingly stroked the keys. He had, of course, never known Kurt's mother. He had been told that Kurt was so very like her. He had always felt like he had missed out on getting to know such an amazing person. Kurt's mother was the one who had completely accepted who he was from the very beginning and had paved the way for Kurt's dad to do the same. Blaine had to shake himself out of his reverie and back into reality. He took off his messenger bag, which he had still been wearing and pulled out his sheet music. He worked for a bit. He realized that between everything that had happened that day, he had actually gotten a good portion of the song done. He couldn't completely finish it until he had the Warblers with him so he could fine tune things that weren't working exactly right. He felt ready to present it to them the next day so he put it away.

He figured he should go help Kurt in the kitchen but he didn't know when he would get another chance to play this particular instrument, which he loved so much. He started playing another song...the very first song he had ever played on this piano. He wasn't singing, just playing.

In the kitchen, Kurt's breath caught as the familiar song came pouring in from the den. Why on earth was Blaine playing _Teenage Dream_? Kurt flashed back to the first time Blaine had ever sat down to that piano. Kurt had had tears in his eyes as he told Blaine about the piano. Blaine had played for him for so long that night. They hadn't even been dating yet, but Kurt hadn't felt as connected to someone as he did to Blaine that night since he was a little boy and sat with his mother at that same piano. He brought himself back to the present and popped the lasagna in the oven. He had already made the salad and he wouldn't warm the garlic bread until his dad and Carole arrived, so he was essentially done for now.

Very quietly Kurt wandered into the den and sat down on a chair behind Blaine and listened to him play. He had finished _Teenage Dream_ and was now playing some of the songs that he had written for Kurt over the years. He was currently playing a song called _Not Alone_ that he had written. Kurt's heart felt like it had jumped up in his throat. Blaine wasn't singing along, but Kurt knew every word. And then he did start to sing:

I've been alone

Surrounded by darkness

I've seen how heartless the world can be

I've seen you crying

You felt like it's hopeless

I'll always do my best

To make you see

Baby you're not alone

Cuz you're here with me

And nothing's ever gonna bring us down

Cuz nothing can keep me from loving you

And you'll know it's true

It don't matter what'll come to be

Our love is all we need to make it through...

Kurt had tears streaming down his face by this point and accidentally let out a little sob which had Blaine whipping around to face him. Tears were glistening in Blaine's eyes too, Kurt noticed.

"Blaine…" Kurt started to say, but had no idea where to go with the sentence. He was across the room in a matter of seconds and was standing in front of Blaine. He didn't even really know how he had gotten there from the chair. He slowly reached up and gently cupped Blaine's face with both of his hands. Blaine was staring into his eyes with such longing that he could barely breathe. His heart was pounding as he slowly leaned down and-

"Hey, Kiddo! We're home!" Burt called jovially from the back of the house. Kurt jumped back about a foot at the unexpected intrusion. Burt and Carole had clearly come in through the kitchen. Kurt dashed the tears out of his eyes and ran for the bathroom to splash water on his face, leaving Blaine behind to deal with his own flooded emotions.

Blaine swung back around to face the piano in case anyone came in the room. He didn't want to explain why he was breathing heavily and why tears had spilled over from his eyes just now. He wanted to bang on the piano in frustration. Of course he would never ever bang on a piano, especially this one, but he really wanted to. He had wanted Kurt to kiss him so so badly. And as soon as Kurt wasn't in the room anymore guilt washed over him like a waterfall. He felt like he should probably excuse himself and leave but just at that moment Carole walked into the room and discovered him there.

"Oh Blaine!" Carole said. "Hello!" He greeted her warmly. If she noticed anything off about him, she was way too caring to mention it. Kurt came back in the room just then and told both Carole and Burt, who had just come in as well, that Blaine would be joining them for dinner. Blaine figured it would be too awkward to say he was going to leave at that point and he walked into the dining room with all of them to set the table.

They actually ended up having a wonderful evening together. Blaine had almost forgotten how easy and carefree the love flowed in this household. Banter was exchanged and as always, Blaine was welcomed into the family as if he belonged there, even if he didn't anymore. Blaine helped Carole clean up the kitchen after they finished dinner and then sat with Burt for a while watching any and all sporting events that Burt could find on tv. Burt wasn't committed to any of the sports events and he just changed back and forth between them while he asked Blaine how things were going at Dalton. The thing about these people is that they really, truly cared about him and what he thought and they wanted to know. When it was time for him to leave he found that he really didn't want to. He knew it was time to go, though.

Kurt escorted Blaine out onto the front porch. Blaine was sort of hoping that there would be a resurgence of the mood that had permeated the air before Burt and Carole had interrupted them. Kurt didn't make any move to restart what had been happening though and wished him good night with a small, insignificant hug. Blaine searched his face but as Kurt looked back at him with a fairly neutral face, he almost started to wonder if he had imagined the whole thing.

"Well...good night, Kurt," Blaine finally said.

"See you around, Blaine," Kurt replied and went back into the house. Kurt leaned up against the inside of the door and let out a long sigh. He heard Blaine's car start and pull away. Kurt was so angry with himself for what he had almost done. He wanted so badly to be back with Blaine, but it wasn't up to Kurt. He knew that he was the one to push Blaine away. In Kurt's mind Blaine needed to be the one to take him back, not the other way around. It wasn't up to him. Throughout the entire meal, he had to fight every instinct he had had to just pull Blaine off and kiss him senseless. By the end of the meal he was so strung out that he really just couldn't wait for Blaine to leave.

Pulling himself back to the present, he briefly said goodnight to his dad and Carole and then headed up to his room to have a good cry.

* * *

 _A/N, just a friendly reminder that I do not own Glee or these characters or any of the songs I mention. I also do not own the song I added the text for, Darren Criss does. It's called Not Alone and, as with everything he does, it is AMAZING and I love it. I've been planning to incorporate some of his own music into this and you may see more._

 _I realize that these last few chapters have been Blaine-heavy. There is some intention there. First of all, we know a lot more about what was going on at McKinley than Dalton. Secondly, originally this was all supposed to be one long chapter, but I had no idea how long it would actually get so I had to split it up._

 _One other thing, I would love to hear from you guys. Let me know what you think!_


	21. Chapter 21

Kurt was trying really hard not to be mad at his best friends, Mercedes and Rachel. Well, more Mercedes than Rachel. Rachel had her own issues to work out about going back to New York and Mercedes had brought it all to a head by practically forcing an audition on her. So Thursday found Mercedes in Rachel's spot, helping Kurt with the New Directions. Unfortunately, the New Directions were NOT interested in Burt Bacharach week and it was not going well. Kurt and Mercedes were sitting in the teacher's lounge trying to brainstorm ways to get the kids on board. After trying to come up with anything and everything they turned to other topics.

"Soooo," Mercedes asked. "How is the new guy, Walter, right?"

"He's good," Kurt replied. "It's fairly casual. We've been on a few dates and he's really sweet. But I think-"

"Did you hear about Santana and Brittany?" Mercedes asked, completely cutting Kurt off. Kurt felt really dismayed at being cut off mid-sentence. He was trying to open up to his best friend about his feelings and she was apparently not in a listening mood. At least not to Kurt. She seemed to be on a "solving problems" kick this week. She just didn't seem interested in helping Kurt, unfortunately. She began telling Kurt all about the problems Santana was having with her abuela. She decided that they needed to help remind Santana who her real family was. Kurt was beginning to wonder if he was a part of this "family" or if he wasn't as important as everyone else.

Kurt had really wanted to ask Mercedes' advice about Blaine. Kurt was wondering if he should really let Blaine take the lead about possibly getting back together or if he should just lay things on the line. Loving Blaine but not being able to be with him was really taking its toll on Kurt. So instead of listening to Kurt ask about Blaine, he got roped into yet another "sing-ervention. Mercedes had to decided they should remind Brittana that everyone in glee loved them and that they would all be there for them by singing _What the World Needs Now_ to them. She even managed to work in Burt Bacharach. If Kurt wasn't so annoyed for being ignored he would have been really happy with the idea.

It turns out, as Kurt would find out later, that Mercedes was afraid that Kurt was going to say he wanted to get more serious with Walter. Mercedes had been prepared to listen to him gush about his new boyfriend, but found out that when actually faced with having to listen to it, she couldn't stand the thought of him talking about anyone but Blaine...especially someone whom she thought of as basically a gay cougar.

So Friday afternoon found all the area New Directions back on the McKinley auditorium stage, waiting for Santana and Brittany to show up. Rachel had arrived back from New York moments ago and she was telling Kurt all about the trip. He was listening with rapt attention until something caught his eye, moving out of the shadows. No one told him that Blaine was going to be here for this. He was getting aggravated at having no warning about when Blaine was coming to things. He would also find out later that this was Mercedes's plan the whole time with regard to Kurt and Blaine. She figured the best way to get them back together was to keep throwing them together until they cracked.

"Hey," Blaine said quietly, as he walked up to Rachel and Kurt.

"Hi, Blaine!" Rachel responded, happily. She was on cloud nine from her audition and seemed to be happy with the whole world at that point. Kurt was much more reserved in his greeting, but the smile he was trying to hide at seeing Blaine was giving him away. They all had their marching orders. When Brittany and Santana finally came in, they were each to give a line about what being family is all about. And then they would sing about it. Kurt was supposed to start the whole "family" conversation after Artie told them he had a problem because too many of Santana's family wanted to sit at her table.

It all started and was going off without a hitch. Kurt came up and said, "Family are the people who embrace you with open arms, no matter what."

Blaine continued with, "they can see the pain in your eyes, even when you're fooling everyone else." The problem for Kurt was that when Blaine said this he kept glancing at Kurt. Could Blaine see the pain in his eyes? Why wasn't he doing anything about it? Maybe he didn't want to. The others went on to talk about what family meant to them. Kurt was trying to follow along, he really was...but Blaine kept glancing at him. It was completely distracting. He had to put all that aside, because he was a main player in the song that was coming up. He managed to get through it without completely flubbing his lines, though his head was spinning.

After the song was finished, everyone circled around Santana and Brittany, and they ended up in one of their frequent New Directions group hugs. Kurt was on the opposite side of the hug from Blaine, a fact that greatly disappointed him. Everyone started milling around after that, talking in small groups. Most of the new kids had wandered away, presumably to get to whatever else they had going on.

Kurt was standing with Mercedes and Rachel, still listening to Rachel go on about going back to New York. He glanced around at the stage they were all still standing on, and he realized that Blaine was standing off by himself. He was looking around at the group with a content expression on his face. As if knowing he was being watched, his gaze came to land on Kurt's. Kurt slowly walked over to him, intending to say hello. However, when he got there, the words that came out of his mouth were, "I need a hug." _Where the heck had that come from?!_ Kurt wondered. Blaine didn't even hesitate. He simply wrapped his arms around Kurt and pulled him close. Kurt was completely overwhelmed by how good it felt to be in Blaine's arms. His breath caught as the hug continued, probably far longer than was socially acceptable. Kurt had buried his face in Blaine's neck and was inhaling his scent deeply. Blaine was wearing the cologne that always made Kurt's knees turn to jelly. Finally, Kurt pulled away and looked into Blaine's eyes. He could see the hurt and confusion in them and also something that looked a lot more promising.

"I need to go," Blaine finally said. "It was good to see you Kurt." With that Blaine walked out of the auditorium as if nothing was happening.

* * *

Blaine was walking through McKinley to get to his car. He was very irritated with himself. He had been about two seconds away from kissing Kurt in front of everyone in the New Directions. He just couldn't do that. He had no idea what was going on with Dave, but what he did know is that Dave didn't deserve to be treated that way. He was no longer sure what he was feeling for either Dave or Kurt, but he knew he needed to get his emotions under control.

 _Hey, can we talk?_ Blaine texted to Dave. He wasn't even sure if he would get a response, but he was hoping for one.

 _We will soon._ Dave replied almost immediately. Blaine was so relieved he almost burst into tears. He didn't even know what he was going to say to Dave at this point. He was pretty sure they were headed for a break up, but he was being given nothing to work with here. At the same time, he didn't want to push because he knew Dave was going through some pretty horrendous stuff. At least he thought he assumed he was, since Dave was really not telling him anything. Dave might care a lot about Blaine, but he apparently didn't know not to leave him alone with his feelings for too long. Blaine tended to go stir crazy without someone to cuddle and care about. If he was being honest with himself (which he still wasn't) that is how he'd ended up with Dave in the first place. Blaine was extremely lonely and in need of affection and Dave was more than willing to give that to him.

Blaine could no longer deny to himself that he had extremely confusing feelings for Kurt. But before he acted on any of those feelings, he needed to know where he stood with his actual boyfriend. It was getting harder and harder to be around Kurt without doing something highly inappropriate, given the circumstances.

He went home to work on some Warblers stuff that he didn't get to because once again he had been called to McKinley to sing. He really wasn't all that upset about it this time, though. He was happy to sing to Brittany and Santana, but he knew the real reason he was glad to be called out there was that he wanted to see Kurt. He had tried to keep his distance, but Kurt didn't seem to want to stay away from him, which, if Blaine was being honest with himself, he was delighted by.

A few minutes later Blaine got texts from three different people, telling him that Mr. Schue was having an engagement party the next evening for Brittany and Santana. Mercedes, Sam, and Rachel had all texted him separately and told him that he had left too soon to find out and that he definitely needed to be there. He was only sad that he hadn't gotten a text from Kurt.

* * *

The next evening found the party going strong. Kurt wondered where Blaine was. He had asked a few people to make sure he was aware of the party and they all said they had. He wondered if he wasn't going to come because of the hug they had shared. It had definitely seemed to make Blaine uncomfortable, though he had fully participated in it.

The music was blasting and everyone was having a wonderful time. Kurt was talking to Rachel, but he couldn't help but glance at the clock every few minutes. It seemed as if Blaine probably wasn't going to show up. He wasn't typically late for things. Even if he did show up, he would probably have Karofsky in tow and that would just mean that Kurt would make an excuse and leave. He didn't think he could stand watching the two of them flirt all night.

Kurt had gotten up to get himself a drink and he heard the doorbell ring. He gestured to Mr. Schue that he was going to answer it, as it didn't seem like anyone else had noticed. He went to pull the door open and there stood Blaine with a bottle of wine, looking as devastatingly handsome as ever. Blaine leaned in to give Kurt a quick hug and then walked into the apartment. Kurt had felt his breath catch at the brief contact and took a second to collect himself. In that time he glanced out in the hallway looking for Karofsky. He was elated when he didn't find him there.

When Kurt entered the living room, he found Blaine standing with Brittany and Santana. Blaine was admiring Brittany's engagement ring. Kurt forced himself to look elsewhere and noticed the seat he had occupied by Rachel was still vacant, so he sat back down.

"I thought you were going to get yourself another drink?" Rachel asked him, confused.

"Oh, I guess I forgot," Kurt replied sheepishly. Rachel looked over at Blaine and raised a brow at Kurt.

"Yeah, I'm sure you did," Rachel stated with a smirk.

"Rachel…" Kurt warned, clearly not amused.

"Kurt…" Rachel sing-songed back, looking at Blaine suggestively. She was telling him with her eyes to go over and talk to Blaine. She'd seen what had happened on the stage earlier. All their friends were buzzing behind their backs about why these two didn't just clue into what was completely obvious to the rest of the world. Rachel really didn't like talking behind her best friend's back, so she wished this would get solved already. Just then Sam pulled her up, saying Mr. Schue wanted to talk to them.

Blaine glanced over and realized that Kurt was now sitting alone on the couch. Fairly quickly that football kid whose name Blaine kept forgetting to ask about sat down on the other side of the couch. That left the middle seat unoccupied. Blaine suddenly decided he was really tired of standing and went and sat down by Kurt. Though there was plenty of room on the couch, he sat close enough to Kurt that their legs were touching, justifying it in his mind by knowing that he really didn't want to talk to the nameless boy on the other side of him.

"Hi," Kurt breathed, trying to sound normal and just missing. _God, he is so close_ , Kurt thought.

"Hey," Blaine replied turning toward Kurt. He was forced to put his arm along the back of the couch behind Kurt's head so he could actually look at him. All it would take was for Kurt to shift ever so slightly, and he would be in Blaine's arms. He resisted.

"So where's Karofsky tonight," Kurt asked instead of leaning into Blaine.

"Oh...he's with his dad," Blaine answered vaguely. Kurt looked confused. For a guy whose parents had basically abandoned him, he was spending an awful lot of time with his dad lately. Kurt supposed that was a good thing for Karofsky. It was good for Kurt too, he supposed, being as Blaine kept showing up places without him. "So I heard Rachel went to New York for an audition?" Blaine asked, wanting to take the attention off the fact that Dave wasn't around. "I guess our little intervention worked?"

"Yeah, apparently it did," Kurt answered with a smile. He launched into the whole story about how Mercedes had gotten Rachel an audition and how she had finally decided to take it. Blaine was very interested and happy for his friend, but he was having trouble following the story. Kurt's proximity was getting to him. He may or may not have been glancing down at Kurt's lips every few seconds, as Kurt was telling his story. He was really trying to follow along. He very much cared about Rachel and her audition. But between Kurt's gorgeous eyes and his pouty lips, which kept moving to form words, though Blaine had no idea what words were actually coming out, he was getting completely lost. He wanted badly to shake his head to try and refocus, but he knew how obvious that would be. A moment later he became aware just how obvious he was being anyway.

Kurt leaned over and whispered, "What are you doing?" right into Blaine's ear. His breath tickled Blaine's ear and sent a shiver down his spine.

"What-what do you mean?" Blaine stuttered out.

"Blaine, you keep…" Kurt was finding it a little embarrassing to mention that Blaine kept looking at his lips. He was getting incredibly turned on in front of all these people and he really needed for Blaine to stop being so close and stop acting like he wanted to kiss him.

"Kurt..." Blaine fairly growled out. "Can we go somewhere and-"

"Here you go, Blaine!" Mr. Schuester said, interrupting whatever Blaine had been about to ask. He thrust a guitar in Blaine's hands. Blaine looked up at Mr. Schuester, confused. He got completely sidetracked and had no idea what was happening. He glanced back and forth between Mr. Schue and Kurt as if trying to puzzle together what had happened. One second he was about to ask Kurt if they could go somewhere and talk (though he knew he wanted to do other things as well) and the next second he was holding a guitar, for no apparent reason. Kurt was looking back at him, just as confused. He also looked like he was about ready to punch Mr. Schue in the face.

Meanwhile, Mr. Schuester, who was completely oblivious to the fact that Kurt and Blaine were just about to have a major breakthrough in their relationship, called for everyone's attention.

"Hey everyone!" he called. "Rachel and I thought up a little game that we'd like to try." He went on to explain that Blaine and Sam, who was also holding a guitar, were going to play musical numbers that the New Directions had sang at one time or another. Whoever figured out the song first should start singing. If it was the right song, that person got a point. If it was the wrong song, they had to sit out for the next round. Obviously the person with the most points at the end would be the winner. The trick to the game was that it was a lot harder to recognize a lot of songs on guitar than it was on piano. Sam had come over to grab Blaine so they could confer about songs. Blaine was still staring at Mr. Schuester as if he had grown an extra head.

When he finally let all of what was happening sink in, Blaine said, "But I don't really want to-" But then he noticed that Kurt was already on the other side of the room talking with Rachel and Mercedes. Blaine sighed and stood up to confer with Sam. He guessed since the moment with Kurt was obviously over, he would go ahead and play the game to make everyone happy.

Meanwhile, Kurt was on the other side of the room giving Rachel heck for choosing that exact moment to announce their little game. "Why are you and Mr. Schue trying to ruin my love life, Rachel?!" Kurt groused quietly. "Blaine was just about to ask me to go somewhere with him and this is the EXACT moment you guys decide to play a freaking game?!"

"Kurt, we didn't know," Rachel answered, defensively. "Besides, it was Mr. Schue's idea and he is the one who decided we should play right now. You should be yelling at him...not me." Kurt sighed and joined the circle that everyone had made around the room to play the game. Whatever Blaine was going to say was obviously lost to oblivion as he and Sam were conferring about songs.

The decided to have a practice round and played the most obvious New Directions song in the world: _Don't Stop Believin._ Rachel, Kurt, and Mercedes all caught on at the exact same time and started to sing the song. Everyone else joined in and they sang through the chorus and a couple of verses before moving on the the next song. Blaine and Sam had decided to play that obnoxious song about Friday that was on YouTube for awhile. A bunch of the guys had performed it at Prom one year. Kitty was the one who caught on to that and then everyone joined in again.

When they were done, Artie yelled out, "Quick play something else before that horrible song is stuck in my head for the rest of my life!" causing everyone to laugh. The game went on from there. Blaine had to admit, that even though he was really annoyed that he had gotten roped into this, it was a pretty good time. He kept glancing over at Kurt, who seemed to be having a lot of fun as well, and that made him smile. They had been playing for about half an hour and just as they were coming to the end of singing _Sit Down, You're Rockin the Boat,_ Blaine felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He pulled it out as Mr. Schue and Sam discussed what to play next.

It was a text from Dave. _Hey, I'm home. I was sort of hoping you would be here so we could talk._

Blaine's breath caught, while he was still looking at his phone. Dave was finally home. Maybe now they could sort out this mess and Blaine could finally understand what was happening between him and Dave and him and Kurt. "Uh, I have to go," Blaine announced to the room to a chorus of "boos", and "no, stays!" Only Kurt noticed that Blaine seemed a little confused and upset by whatever was on his phone.

Blaine had quickly gathered his coat, walked out of the room and out the front door. It took a few moments for Kurt to realize he wanted to know what was going on so he quickly followed. However by the time Kurt managed to get downstairs and outside, he was looking at the tail lights of Blaine's Prius, as it pulled out of the parking lot. He sighed and went back inside.


	22. Chapter 22

_A/N Warning for homophobia and horrible parenting...and this is pretty angsty, Friends._

* * *

Blaine entered their apartment, took one look at Dave and was over with him in an instant, pulling him into a fierce and protective hug. Dave looked like he had been through emotional hell in the past week. All of the feelings of abandonment seeped out of Blaine, replaced instead with guilt. One look at Dave and he knew that Dave did not deserve how Blaine had been acting for the past week, flirting with his ex instead of worrying about his boyfriend.

Blaine pulled Dave over to the couch and just held him while Dave let go and cried. After what seemed an eternity, Dave quieted and was able to talk. "My mom walked out on my dad after my dad told her that he wasn't going to play by her rules where I am concerned anymore," he huffed out.

"What does that mean, exactly?" Blaine asked in reply, very gently. He had wrapped Dave in his arms and was stroking his hair.

"My dad told my mom that they were going to start having a relationship with me again," Dave began trying to hold on to his tears so he could get this out. "My mom said that she would not even consider having me in their house until I confessed my 'sins' before God and got counseling to rid myself of my little 'problem.' So basically the same thing she has been saying all along. But I guess my dad had enough and he put his foot down. My mom packed that night. She would give up twenty-five years of marriage instead of accept that I am gay," he finished with a strangled animal noise.

"She doesn't deserve to call you her son," Blaine barked out angrily. "You are an amazing human being David, and your mother is a horrible one for not seeing it and accepting you for who you are!" While Dave knew all of that to be true, it really didn't make things any better. In fact, it hurt so much more to know that his mother, the first person to greet him in this life and the one who should love him above all else, felt that he was broken and not worth loving. Dave pulled back from Blaine as two silent tracks of tears ran down his face.

"She's my mom," Dave said brokenly. "Why doesn't she love me?" Blaine didn't know how to help. He wanted so much to make all of this go away for Dave. He pulled him in and gently kissed his lips. Dave sighed into the feeling. He had missed Blaine every second, but he didn't want to drag him into the mess that was going on with his parents.

Blaine gripped the sides of Dave's face and deepened the kiss. He wanted so badly to give Dave everything he needed, spiritually and physically. However he knew that even as he was kissing him, this wasn't right. He wasn't going to be able to continue down this path. It just didn't feel the way it was supposed to feel. And he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that to lead Dave into physical intimacy when his mind was full of another was just going to hurt him way worse in the long run.

It turned out to be alright, because Dave pulled away a few moments later. As much as he wanted to be with Blaine, he needed someone to talk to even more. He began to tell Blaine about his week. Dave had arrived at his parents' house last week to find most of his mother's belongings were missing. Apparently she had been gone for a few days before Paul, Dave's dad, could accept the inevitable and had called Dave so that they could get things in order.

Marian, Dave's mother, had apparently involved law enforcement to be allowed back in the house to take more stuff. Dave explained that that was weird because Paul would have given her everything, including the shirt off his back. He loved his wife dearly and Dave had had to watch him deteriorate into a mess of a human being throughout the week. Dave had kept telling his dad to ask her to return and he would just leave. Apparently that was the one thing Paul was not willing to do for his wife. He was no longer going to allow her to hold hostage the relationship he wanted with his only child.

Blaine had always knew things were strained between Dave and his parents, but he was beginning to see why Dave had been such a homophobe in high school, hating himself for who he really was. Blaine just got angrier and angrier that a mother could treat her child this way, but he knew his anger was not going to help Dave so he held it in check. Dave had continued to try and get his father and mother back together as the week had progressed. He even tried to approach his mom at one point. He showed up at his aunt's house to talk with his mother. He was going to tell her that he would stay out of the way if she would just come home. However, he was never allowed into the house and his aunt had been extremely terse as she told him that he was not welcome in her home and there was no way Marian was going to see Dave without a minister present, ready to exorcise his demons.

Finally, after Dave had pleaded with his dad for a few days to make things right between his mother and him, Paul dragged Dave to a counselor. They began family counseling on Tuesday and had been there every day since then. The counselor had assured Dave that he was not in the wrong for being who he was and that the kind of limitations that his mother was placing on her and his dad's relationship meant it was basically doomed anyway. The counselor assured Dave that his dad was doing the right thing for himself and for Dave. Thursday they visited a lawyer and his dad began divorce proceedings citing the ever popular irreconcilable differences as grounds.

Blaine had grabbed Dave's hand, while he had been telling his story, and he didn't want to let go. But after Dave was done, Blaine could tell what he really needed was a decent night's sleep. He looked utterly emotionally and physically wrecked. Blaine pulled him up and walked him into the bedroom. He took him over to the bed and sat him down. Then he went to Dave's dresser and pulled out some lounge pants and a t-shirt. He brought them over and began to strip Dave of the jeans and button down he was wearing. There was nothing sexual in the way he was removing his clothing. Instead it was full of caring and concern for Dave's well being. He helped him get into his nightclothes, as Dave seemed almost beyond movement on his own at this point, he was so drained. After Dave was fully ready, Blaine tucked him in. He went to his own dresser and pulled out some sweatpants and a t-shirt, threw them on and went to his side of the bed. After laying down, he gently pulled Dave into his arms and stroked his hair. Dave, feeling like he was finally somewhere safe again, was asleep within minutes. Blaine lay there for awhile, but really couldn't stay in the bed. He had way too much nervous, pent-up energy to lay there. He made his way back out to the living room and sat on the couch. He noticed he had a message on his phone, which he had left on the coffee table. He picked it up and opened the message.

 _You okay? You seemed kind of upset when you left._ -Kurt

 **Not really.** -Blaine

Blaine fully expected a reply from Kurt asking what was wrong. What he did not expect was his phone to start singing _Blackbird_ in Kurt's voice a few seconds later. Kurt had recorded the song for Blaine for Christmas one time, after Blaine had told him it was the song that made him realize how special Kurt was to him. He had had it made into a ringtone and it was Kurt's special ringtone on his phone. He'd never changed it after they broke up.

Blaine quickly answered the phone, not wanting it to wake up Dave.

"Hello," he said quietly.

"Blaine?" Kurt replied. "Are you okay?"

"No. Things are a little bleak over here at the moment," Blaine replied. Realizing that he needed someone to talk to and that Kurt would understand this more than most people, Blaine launched into the whole story of Dave's parents. Kurt murmured indignantly every now and then as Blaine told him what was going on, but he allowed Blaine to finish the story.

"Ugh," Kurt finally said, when he had heard it all. "What an evil witch!"

"I don't know what to do here, Kurt," Blaine replied quietly. "I mean my dad isn't exactly the poster man for acceptance, but he still cares about me. I wish I could believe that his mother would come around, but obviously that isn't going to happen. He is so broken!"

"The only thing you can do is be there for him," Kurt replied. It really pained Kurt to say this, as he was really hoping that maybe they were moving to a place where Blaine would want to be with him. However, he could tell David needed Blaine and so he was willing to step aside for a while for their friend. "Just continue to do what you did tonight. Listen to him. Let him vent to you. Be his safe place."

"Yeah, I will," Blaine replied. Kurt held in a sigh. How had he walked away from this wonderful man? He was literally the most caring person Kurt had ever met. He mentally berated himself for that move for about the thousandth time.

"And Blaine, while you take care of him, take care of yourself as well," Kurt went on. "I know you. You will lose yourself in trying to take care of Karofsky, if you aren't careful. If you need someone to talk to, I am always here."

"I know," Blaine replied. "Thanks, Kurt." With that, they said their goodbyes. Blaine felt a little better after having been able to share this burden with someone and he went back in and snuggled in by Dave. He wasn't going to let him wake up alone. He would be by his side no matter what. If Dave woke in the night, he planned to be there to make sure he was okay. He had taken to heart "be his safe place" and he planned to do just that. All thoughts of getting back together with Kurt would be pushed aside. Dave had been there for him when he had needed him, it was time to return the favor. He lay looking at the penis constellation on the ceiling. He couldn't believe they had left that up there. Eventually he drifted off into a peaceful sleep and dreamt of slow dancing with a man with incredibly bright blue eyes. Only in his dreams now could he be where he truly wanted to be.


	23. Chapter 23

_AN Happy Holidays everyone! Sorry this has been a long time coming. I hope you are still hanging around with me._

* * *

Blaine Anderson was a very happy man.

He was also a very exhausted man. It turns out it is completely emotionally draining convincing yourself at all times that your life is exactly what you want it to be. Not that Blaine would admit that he was doing that, if he was asked. He wasn't even admitting to himself that there might be something amiss. He made a promise to himself that he was going to be the best boyfriend that he could be and he was following through on that promise.

It took Dave a couple days and a lot more convincing that he was a good person to come back to the happy-go-lucky guy he had become. Blaine and Paul, Dave's dad, along with Dave's counselor were sort of tag-teaming to make sure that Dave stayed positive through this whole ordeal. The counselor was making great headway and with Blaine's constant reassurances that Dave was a good person when they were together (which was all the time that Dave and Blaine were not otherwise occupied) he seemed to be headed in the right direction.

Blaine was being the best boyfriend he possibly could. He was attentive to Dave and very reassuring. He made sure to be available for whenever Dave needed a shoulder to cry on, someone to distract him with laughter, or just to be there with him. Dave was eating up all of the attention from the man he loved. He couldn't get enough of it because he knew in all probability that it would soon be coming to an end. While Blaine was being perfect as a support system, he was very subtly pulling back physically and emotionally. And Dave was definitely noticing. Blaine would happily hold Dave while he talked about his mother or his counseling sessions. But it was _always_ Dave who initiated any kind of kissing at this point. And Blaine always ended the kisses after a few moments, always finding something else that had to be done at that moment so as not to appear like he was trying to get away. Dave wasn't even fully sure if Blaine recognized what he was doing. And then there was the fact that Blaine was sharing less and less of his own life with Dave. Dave still asked him about his day, but Blaine always found a way to move the conversation to how Dave was doing and what had gone on with him that day. Blaine only talked about what was going on at Dalton when it became evident that Dave needed a distraction from things in his own life.

Dave had realized from the start of the relationship that he might be in for heartache when he got together with Blaine. It was so ridiculously obvious when they first started dating that Blaine was still completely in love with Kurt. Dave had hoped that maybe Blaine's love for Kurt would diminish and he would find room in his heart for Dave. There had been times when it seemed that might be the case. When they first met Kurt at Scandals, Dave had fully expected that he would be the one crying at the end of the night. However, when he had approached them, Blaine was in the midst of telling Kurt he was dating Dave. Then there were the times when Blaine seemed hellbent on having sex with Dave. Truth be told, at this point there wasn't anything that Dave wanted more than to make love with Blaine as he knew the opportunity was passing by. Dave wasn't going to pressure Blaine, though, and Blaine had obviously decided that wasn't going to happen right now.

Dave spoke with his counselor about both Blaine and Kurt. He told the counselor that he was in love with Blaine now, just as he had been in love with Kurt in high school. And he was pretty sure these were the only two men he had ever loved. He had dated A LOT. But he never let anything go beyond a few dates before he would break things off with anyone else. The counselor helped lead Dave to realize that by falling for men who were completely unavailable and sabotaging every other relationship he had the possibility of having, Dave was reacting to the way his mother was treating him. The counselor led Dave to realize that he didn't think he was worthy of love because the person in his life who should love him the most had completely turned her back on him. By falling for unavailable men, he was both guarding his heart against future heartbreak (obviously it wasn't going to work out) and affirming that he didn't think he was worthy of real love. The counselor actually encouraged Dave to break things off with Blaine, but Dave couldn't bring himself to do it. He wanted to hold on for as long as Blaine was going to let him, even to his own detriment. He rationalized this by saying that Blaine was being so good to him that it would look ungrateful.

* * *

On the Thursday after the party at Mr. Schuester's something crazy happened at Dalton. Due to an unseasonably early cold snap, there was a water main break out to the subdivision where Dalton was located. The community was put on immediate boil order and told that it was take several days for them to fix the problem, being as the main that came this far out of Westerville was extensive and broken in several places. The faculty and staff had an emergency conference to decide what to do. They decided that for the safety of the boys, they would have to send them away from campus. Not only would the water be on and off all weekend as crews tried to fix the problem, but they couldn't have the boys accidentally forgetting and drinking the water or using it to brush their teeth. Not to mention that cooking without water would be a nightmare for the kitchen staff, and having to boil all water before using it for things like food prep would be completely overwhelming to the staff.

Blaine was sorely disappointed in this news because on Sunday the Warblers were supposed to put on their fall concert at Dalton. Everything was all prepared and he was extremely happy with the way things were shaping up. Even if they were able to find another location to hold the concert, the boys were all going off in different directions and it would be hard to gather them. He wasn't able to be upset for long though, because he was recruited to make sure all the boys had a place to go. The ones who lived in the area were obviously just going home to their families. And some of the boys that lived quite a ways away had managed to book flights home for a long weekend. But many of the other boys who lived far away were finding friends to stay with. Blaine was in charge of making sure all the Warblers and several other students had a place to go. That meant he had to run around looking for all of them as they were all frantically but excitedly packing for the unscheduled break.

Blaine ran into Kyle in the hall of one of the dorms and asked him if he had somewhere to go. Kyle said that he actually only lived a couple hours away, but his parents were out of town again. He excitedly told Blaine that he was going to spend the weekend with Jon at his family home. As Kyle babbled on about how amazing it was going to be because Jon's parents were so accepting of their relationship after Jon had come out to them, Blaine smiled and crossed Kyle's name off his list. He ran around the dorms and managed to find all of the students on his list. He then stayed to make sure everyone got out safely.

On the way out to his car, Blaine texted Sam. Sam had asked him and Dave to watch football on Sunday, and now he was completely free to do so. Sam texted back asking how long Dalton would be out of commission. Blaine said he thought they would be able to be back in by Tuesday or Wednesday.

As Blaine was driving home, he was a little upset at the thought of spending the whole weekend with Dave. He quickly squelched that thought. He should be happy to be able to spend all of this time with his boyfriend. He figured it was just that he was upset about the show. He had planned to spend the whole weekend at Dalton. Also, while he was having trouble admitting it, it was hard to be around Dave with the constant talk of Dave's family troubles. At first Blaine wanted to know all about it and how he could help. Now it was becoming a bit tedious. The problem is, Blaine realized it was his own fault. He's been encouraging Dave to talk about his feelings all week. He was just trying to be the perfect boyfriend. But now he felt more like a counselor than a boyfriend. He kept thinking back to when he was first around Dave though and it made him feel really guilty. Dave listened to him talk about Kurt nonstop and never once complained. Not that Blaine had complained about Dave talking about his mom, but he was thinking it. And it made him feel guilty. And frankly Blaine was getting tired of feeling guilty. He had been looking forward to the show so that he could keep his mind on something else for a change.

Blaine found out that he didn't need to worry about spending all that time with Dave. It turned out that Dave had plans all weekend. Blaine felt bad, again, that he didn't even consider that Dave would have made plans for all the time that Blaine was busy. He felt that he was giving Dave less and less credit as a person. He had sort of turned Dave into a project instead of a boyfriend.

"Babe, I can cancel my plans if you want me to…" Dave said when Blaine told him what had happened at Dalton. Dave had class on Friday and then he was planning to spend the evening with his Dad. Then all day on Saturday he was going to be in a Halo tournament with his football buddies. Of course on Sunday he had planned to come to Blaine's concert, so he was free to hang and watch football with Blaine and Sam that day.

"Of course I don't want that," Blaine replied. "You should go and have a great time." They were eating a simple dinner of chicken salads that Blaine had time to make, since he was home so early.

"I mean, you could come to the tournament, but the team is all assembled, so you would just be watching, and that would probably get really boring, but-"

"No, it's fine," Blaine cut in. He didn't mind playing Halo, but he would be damned if he was going to sit around and watch a bunch of guys he didn't even know play it all day. "I have a ton of stuff to do, so no big deal."

"Okay, good," Dave answered. He took their dishes to the sink and quickly washed them. "I hope you don't mind, but I need to hit the library. I have a ton of work I need to get done, since I am going to be messing around all weekend." He didn't even wait for an answer. He just kissed Blaine on the forehead, grabbed his bag, and left. Blaine wasn't sure what had happened. He figured Dave would want to at least spend this night with him, since they were going to be apart for most of the weekend.

Blaine felt a little bit abandoned, which he supposed should probably bother him. Instead he saw it as a good opportunity to relax for awhile. He took an extra long shower and got into his old Dalton sweats. He decided to have some ice cream and watch all the shows he'd been saving on DVR for a time when he was available. About halfway through the third Criminal Minds, he was sound asleep on the couch from sheer emotional and stress-filled exhaustion.

The next morning he woke up to find himself covered in a blanket. He glanced around and found a muffin with a cup of coffee and a note from Dave:

Hey Babe, I was really hoping to have breakfast with  
you, but I didn't want to wake you. You have seemed  
pretty stressed lately and I thought you could use  
the sleep. Text me when you wake up. XO-Dave

Blaine stretched and grabbed his phone and texted Dave good morning. It was really sweet of him to go grab breakfast for Blaine before heading off for a full day of classes. Blaine turned on the television and watched a couple game shows while he ate his muffin. But then he decided that it was time to do something productive and he dragged out his keyboard. It had been some time since Blaine had worked on his own music, being as he was so wrapped up in the Warblers.

He had a tune flowing through his mind and he decided to get it down on paper. He would get the music down and then see if it could match up any of the lyrics he'd been scribbling down for the past few months. He would completely deny a pair of piercing blue eyes and a quirky half-grin were floating in front of his eyes as he was playing the tune. Suddenly words were flowing out of his mouth, without him realizing it, he was writing a new song:

"I'm going nowhere-I can't move forward. I'm so much colder than I've been

since the October when we were closer and it was love that we were in.

If I was a smarter man, I'd understand I'm alone when I look in the mirror.

We said our goodbyes then, but I close my eyes and you're still here.

I'm going nowhere-you said it's over. Still, I look forward to the fall.

Another October (I'm sorry I know your expecting a less than sober call.)

And maybe you're right, I'm scared, and my go-nowhere-ing is making it

hard to believe that I'm going nowhere and there is nowhere I'd rather be…

If you could just show where I can go nowhere, that's where I'll be."

Blaine realized this was the beginning and ending of a song that he absolutely had to get down on paper. And he finally admitted to himself that absolutely yes...he was thinking about Kurt.

All. The. Time.

* * *

 _AN-Two author's notes...aren't you lucky! Haha. Anyways, just wanted to say that yes, that is a Darren song off of his new EP called "Going Nowhere," (I know, duh, right?) It spoke to me the moment I heard it and I absolutely love it! I love the whole EP and you guys should definitely check it out!_


	24. Chapter 24

_Author's Note: Hey everyone, here is another chapter, though this one is a little different. It comes with a companion piece. In thinking up my story, my characters did something that I did not find suitable to include under the rating I have this story. I wanted to include it, but I don't want to change the rating midstream. So there is a companion piece to this one. It is very decidedly rated MA. If you are not old enough or comfortable with that, the story definitely works without it. If you do want to read it, it is called Kurt's Dream and it can be found under my name. Thanks for continuing to support me. As always, I do not own characters or things you recognize from other places._

* * *

Blaine worked on his song for the rest of the afternoon. The first verse and the last verse just sort of flowed out. The middle was a little bit more complicated, for whatever reason. He messed around with it for hours before he could let it go. Hunger finally drove him into his kitchen. He realized that it was five o'clock in the afternoon and that he hadn't eaten anything at all since the muffin he had had late in the morning. He quickly threw together a quick pasta dish and grabbed a soda from the fridge.

He went back to the couch and ate while he watched the local news. There was a story on the water main break at Dalton. They said the main should be fixed by the following Tuesday. That meant school would probably be back in session on Wednesday. He checked his phone which he had been completely ignoring and found out that was the case. Dalton had sent out a mass email telling them everyone was expected back at school by Wednesday for classes. A group email came to the staff saying that they were expected to be on hand on Tuesday to help the students get settled back in the dorms. That meant that Blaine had three more open days to do whatever he wanted. For some reason the time stretched out like an abyss. All of that time was supposed to be filled with Warbler stuff. He was no longer going to allow himself to sulk about it though.

Blaine decided he needed to find something to do for the evening. He had worked hard for several hours, so it was time to have some fun. He knew McKinley had a home football game tonight due to being on the McKinley alumni facebook page. He had not had a chance to watch Sam in action in awhile. Since Sam was basically coaching at McKinley at this point, Blaine felt it made sense in his status as best friend to go support him. If he happened to run into any of his other friends along the way, well more's the better. He wasn't hoping to see anyone in particular, of course. He would settle for whomever of his friends showed up. _Yeah, keep telling yourself that, Blaine,_ he thought to himself.

Blaine threw on a pair of red pants and an old McKinley High sweatshirt. He took extra care with his hair. He decided not to use so much hair gel and let his curls show a little. Kurt had always liked that. Not that he was dressing for Kurt in any way. It was just that Kurt was always so fashion forward and if he liked it that way, it was probably what was best.

Blaine arrived at McKinley Stadium as the players were doing warm-ups on the field. Most of the seats were already taken, but luckily, he immediately noticed Artie in the handicapped section. Mercedes and Rachel were seated near him. They were all talking animatedly, though Blaine had no idea what they were saying from this distance. He quickly made his way over to them, and was greeted with hugs from Mercedes and Rachel and something between a handshake and a high five from Artie.

"Hey, guys!" Blaine exclaimed enthusiastically as he joined Mercedes and Rachel on the bench.

"I didn't know you would be out here tonight," Rachel answered excitedly. "Sam told me what happened at Dalton. I'm sure that is so discouraging!"

"Yeah it was hard, considering all the time we had put into that concert. But such is life," Blaine replied, still a little dejected.

"Well, it's cool that you came out, bro," Artie put in. "This should be a good game. Hopefully it will get your mind off things for a bit. Sam and Spencer have been talking strategy all week, no matter where they were. It was getting a little annoying, to be honest."

"Who's Spencer?" Blaine questioned, confused. He knew Sam was still only assistant coach, but he thought Beiste was still the main coach. He was sure Sam would have told him if that had changed.

"Spencer's the quarterback," Rachel explained. "He's also in our glee club." _Oh, that's his name!_ Blaine thought.

"For some reason, I never really caught his name. It's been bugging me for awhile. I guess I should have just asked," Blaine replied. Just then the announcer came over the loudspeaker asking everyone to stand for the National Anthem. After that was done, the starting lineup for the opposing football team was announced, and then McKinley was brought out to much fanfare. Lima may have not been a lot of great things, but they definitely enjoyed their football team.

"So how come Kurt isn't here to cheer on Spencer and Sam?" Blaine asked, trying to sound as if it were a completely casual question.

"You know how Kurt is," Mercedes replied. "Not a fan of sports...well unless you count competitive shopping," she laughed out.

"Yeah, he came to Spencer's first game as quarterback, but that will probably be it for him and football this year," Artie put in. "I don't even think he liked being at the games when he was literally on the team." They all laughed at that, and Blaine joined in, though it was a little half-hearted.

"Anyway," Rachel continued. "He's out on date with Walter tonight. I'm sure he would much rather be there than here."

Blaine was asking himself why he was so upset. He should not have been surprised that Kurt wasn't at a football game. Kurt used to read Vogues during every sporting event that Blaine, Burt, and Finn watched together. He realized he had somewhat been counting on Kurt being there, though. He was of two minds. He wanted Kurt to be there alone so that Blaine could have seen just him. He had also wanted Kurt to be there with this Walter person so that he could meet him and make sure that he wasn't taking advantage of Kurt.

Blaine paid very little attention to the football game. His mind was far away, back at Dalton the day Kurt came to spy. He clapped when everyone else did and tried to pay attention to the conversation flowing around him. His friends had tried to engage him a couple times, but realizing they were getting nowhere, they were content to let him alone, though they shared knowing looks and raised eyebrows with each other.

* * *

One town over, Kurt was having troubles of his own. Walter had taken him to a very expensive restaurant that had just opened. It was the kind of place he would never have gone with Blaine because they were both always saving money. He tried to enjoy it, he really did. But he felt like Walter had made missteps from the very beginning of the evening, the first being choosing this restaurant.

The ride over to the restaurant had been okay. They had made casual conversation. Walter had told him to dress up a little, which Kurt had liked. They were both wearing suits. Kurt's was, of course, much more fashion forward than Walter's, as he had made it himself. But together they made quite a stunning pair. Kurt looked like he had stepped off the pages of Vogue and Walter had told him so, causing Kurt to blush and preen at the praise. Kurt's three-piece suit was fitted and a deep purple with a barely visible design running through the fabric. Coupled with a black skinny tie, it made him look impossibly tall and slender. Walter's breath had audibly caught when he picked Kurt up that evening. Next to him, Walter looked classic and a little boring but still handsome. He had worn a charcoal grey suit with a striped blue and grey tie.

The evening turned difficult when they reached the restaurant, after the maitre d' escorted them to their table. The first thing that went wrong was their original waiter was clearly interested in Kurt. It would have not been a big deal except that he flirted openly with Kurt, which made Kurt extremely uncomfortable. It went a bit too far for Walter when he mentioned how nice it was that "father and son" were out for a nice meal. It was clear that the waiter knew they were on a date, but he wanted to point out their age difference. Walter flagged over the maitre d' and asked to speak to the manager, which called attention to them, something Kurt really did not want to do as a gay couple in Ohio. Walter quietly explained the problem to the manager and they were assigned a waitress. The manager profusely apologized and comped the bottle of wine they had requested.

After that, things should have been smooth, but they were not. Finally given a chance to look at the menu, Kurt noticed the prices and his breath hitched a little. He was unaware at just how fancy a place they were at until then. However, he recovered and was debating between a chicken pasta dish and salmon, which he explained to Walter. If he had been out with Blaine and had said as much, Blaine would have waited for Kurt to order one and then he would have ordered the other so they could share. He did it every time. Kurt had begged him on several occasions to get what he wanted. Blaine had always said he didn't really care what he ate, it was the company he loved, not the food. Blaine was truly not picky, he ate pretty much everything and his true pleasure was making Kurt happy. He always told him that his favorite food wasn't ever on the menu anyway. His favorite food being anything Kurt cooked for him, and cronuts of course he always joked.

When the waitress came to take their orders, Kurt had opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off by Walter ordering steak and lobster, the most expensive thing on the menu, for both of them. Both of the dishes Kurt had chosen were among the lower priced things on the menu but they were truly what Kurt wanted to eat. He was extremely annoyed that Walter had ordered for him. First of all, Kurt rarely ate red meat of any kind. It was something that Walter should have known, he felt, as they had eaten together several times and Kurt had never even ordered a hamburger, let alone steak. Beyond that, he was okay with lobster, he just wasn't in the mood for it, and he really didn't feel like covering his suit with a plastic bib so as not to get butter on it, but he wasn't about to ruin this suit. Luckily the restaurant did provide bibs and they were cloth, not plastic with lobsters on them, of which Kurt had been afraid.

Kurt could have let everything else that went wrong with the evening go, if it wasn't for the one big thing that had him worried for the rest of the evening. At some point, it had become quite clear to Kurt that he was in the middle of a seduction scene. It became clear throughout the rest of the evening exactly where Walter was hoping this evening would end up. It definitely wasn't with a good night kiss on the cheek, which had become their customary goodbye. Kurt realized very quickly that he wasn't ready for what Walter had in mind. He became slightly withdrawn trying to figure out how he was going to deal with the end of the evening. Walter didn't seem to notice as he kept the conversation going steadily as he ate and Kurt picked at his food.

Kurt became more and more convinced that the end of this evening was going to be the end of his relationship with Walter. After all Walter had waited even more than the requisite amount of time before trying to turn things intimate between them. Kurt didn't want to hurt Walter, and he didn't really want to lose him. He was still interested, he just wasn't interested in turning things sexual quite yet. He explored his feelings and realized it really had nothing to do with their age difference. He just wasn't ready. It took Kurt a long time to move on feelings such as those, which was why he'd really only ever been with one person in that way. He'd had other chances, of course. He and Adam had been snowed in together, after all. Something may have happened then, if Kurt hadn't spend the whole night thinking about Blaine.

Therein, lie the real problem, if Kurt would let himself be honest about it. It always came back to Blaine. He hadn't even meant to let it happen that evening with Adam. He'd truly been attracted to Adam, just as he was truly attracted to Walter now. However, there was this big Blaine-sized hurtle, always in the way. In the moment, Kurt wasn't allowing himself to believe that was really the problem. He just knew he wasn't ready for this big of a step.

On the ride home, Walter finally realized that Kurt was being unusually quiet. He was hoping it was because Kurt was excited about where the evening was going. He decided it was time to broach the subject blatantly, as Kurt had never really responded to any of his veiled advances.

"So…" Walter began. Kurt's insides churned as he realized what was coming. "I'd love to have you over to my place for a nightcap. You've never seen my place." He grabbed Kurt's hand and was running his thumb over the back of Kurt's fingers as he spoke.

"Um…" Kurt stalled for a moment. "I think I had enough wine with dinner," he laughed out nervously.

"Coffee then?" Walter asked, winking. Walter was clearly not going to take the hint and this was quickly ramping up to become the most awkward part of the evening.

"Walter, I think I'd rather just go home," Kurt finally said, withdrawing his hand.

"Kurt, have I done something wrong?" Walter asked, showing his upset.

"Of course not," Kurt replied embarrassed. "It's just that this is a very big step and I'm really not ready for it." Kurt sighed, he knew what was coming. This was going to be their big break up scene. Thank Gaga, at least, that they were back in Lima, so they wouldn't be trapped in the car too long together after everything was out in the open.

"Kurt, I'm not expecting anything but some nice conversation and great company," Walter replied. Kurt just looked at him until he finally admitted, "Okay, that isn't entirely honest. I would be lying if I said I don't want to be with you. But I'm not expecting anything, we can go as slow or as fast as you want." _I don't want to go at all,_ Kurt thought. _Not yet._

"I'm so sorry, Walter, I'm just really not ready for anything. I want to be, it just takes me a long time to get there," Kurt replied, being as honest as he could. As honest as his own mind would let him be. He was holding the real reasons why he was not ready for intimacy with a beautiful man at bay even to himself. He heard Walter sigh and he prepared himself for whatever was coming. Walter turned the car towards Kurt's house.

"Okay," Walter finally said.

"Okay, what?" Kurt asked.

"Okay, we'll wait until you _are_ ready. Kurt you are one of a kind and I'm incredibly lucky to have found you. I am not going to pretend I'm not disappointed, but I'm more than willing to wait for you."

"Oh," Kurt breathed out. He had not been expecting this at all. "Thank you," he finally said. By this time they had reached Kurt's house. Walter leaned over and gave Kurt his customary kiss on the cheek.

"I'll call you tomorrow," Walter said. Kurt nearly turned and gave him a kiss on the mouth, after all, he felt he owed him something for being willing to wait. However he decided at the last minute that that would just confuse them both. Instead he said goodbye and got out of the car to walk up to his door.

Once on the other side of the door, he leaned on it heavily and let the thoughts he'd kept at bay flow. They were all of Blaine. He slowly walked up to his room, trying to cut off these desperate thoughts. Once in his room, he undressed and placed his suit back in the closet. He threw on some pajamas and climbed into his bed as these unwanted memories kept compounding.

He remembered the first time he'd ever seen Blaine. Blaine, standing at the bottom of the Dalton staircase, looking up at Kurt. Kurt was a goner from that very first moment. The whole scene played out in his mind. Running down the hallway hand in hand, being serenaded by a stupid Katy Perry song, that he still couldn't hear without being transported to that very moment.

From running down the hall, the next memory conjured up also took place on those steps. " _And for those of you that know me, know I'm not in the habit of taking people's hands I've never met before but I think that my soul knew something that my body and my mind didn't know yet. It knew that our hands were meant to hold each other. Fearlessly and forever…"_

Tears were streaming down Kurt's face at the same time he was getting impossibly turned on from all the images that kept running through his mind. Of course... _of course_ the next thing that took his mind was the first time they were intimate together. Kurt could remember every sound Blaine had made as if it were yesterday and it was all unbelievably hot and too much. He continued to cry silently as he reached down to calm his ever growing problem. Somewhere in his mind he realized that he had to let all of this go if he was ever going to be happy again. It was time to move beyond Blaine and onto whatever his life was supposed to become. When he finally fell asleep, he dreamt about Blaine of course.

When he woke up from the intense dream, he had half expected to find himself in Blaine's arms. Even though the whole time he'd been dreaming, he'd known that it _was_ a dream, he was still infinitely disappointed that he was alone in his own bed the next morning. He realized that there was really no moving past Blaine for him. He didn't know what he was supposed to do, but he knew he was never going to be able to accept that it was truly over between them. The dream had been amazing and sensual except for one thing...they had not been able to talk to each other. Kurt could not tell Blaine how much he loved him and that had killed him. He knew at some point, he had to say those words again, no matter what the consequences.


	25. Chapter 25

Hey all, I am sorry I have been AWOL for awhile. I hope you are still with me. As for this chapter, I am trying to get to the good stuff, but the boys keep veering off and doing things that I didn't even realize they were going to do until it is there in my head. Hope you enjoy! Let me know!

* * *

Kurt arrived at the Lima Mall at 11:30 per the plan. He headed into the food court. Mercedes, Rachel, and he had planned to do lunch and then have a shopping marathon. Any time Kurt could get Rachel to let him help her out with clothes, he was in. She had long ago ditched the "little school girl" look, but she sometimes fell back into her old ways if not watched.

When Kurt got to the food court, he saw his girls standing there waiting for him. He was pretty excited to get some retail therapy and forget about dreams and boyfriends and whether or not he should go all the way with a man he didn't have intense feelings for. He was planning to put Walter and Blaine out of his mind completely and have a nice gossip sesh and shopping with the girls.

"So, lunch and then let's get to it," Kurt said, as he arrived where Mercedes and Rachel were standing.

"Just a sec," Rachel replied. "We aren't all here yet." Kurt was extremely confused. They had told him that Tina had gone back to Brown. Who else was there. Kurt glanced around and his heart flip flopped as a very familiar head of hair came into view down the corridor.. He was walking behind some women, so all Kurt could see was his hair, but he knew exactly who was about to show up.

"What did you two do?!" Kurt almost shrieked as Blaine got closer and closer to the food court.

"Blaine came out to the game last night," Mercedes explained. "You know what happened at Dalton and I think he's bored. So we invited him along today." The girls had an ulterior motive. They had decided that the more they could throw Kurt and Blaine together, the sooner they would get a clue and get back together. Pretty much everyone in New Directions agreed with them at this point.

Kurt concentrated on his breathing. He had to make sure that he had it together by the time Blaine actually got to them. He was thrilled that Blaine was going to be there, but he also had no idea how he was supposed to act around him.

"Hey girls! Hi Kurt," Blaine said as he finally arrived, rounding out the party. Everyone exchanged pleasantries and then they decided to go their separate ways and get food for lunch. Kurt went to the burger stand where they happened to have a fantastic Greek salad. Blaine went for Japanese and the girls both went to the pizza stand. The pizza stand in the mall was one of the only places that Rachel could get Vegan pizza in Lima, so she took full advantage.

The girls decided they wanted to go to Victoria Secret and then Charlotte Russe to start off their shopping trip. Kurt was comfortable in women's stores, but Blaine looked somewhat like a deer caught in headlights at the mention of going to Victoria Secret. There was really nothing of interest in there for him at all. Kurt caught his uncomfortable look and suggested that the girls and guys split up for a bit. Blaine looked relieved for a moment until he realized that meant he would be alone with Kurt. He decided that was the less of two awkward situations and agreed to the plan.

They had planned on going to a movie so they decided to meet up at 5 PM if not before. The guys headed off to Hugo Boss, while the girls went and did their thing. Kurt decided he would have a lot more fun dressing Blaine than Rachel and, of course, Blaine loved Hugo Boss clothing.

When Kurt and Blaine arrived at the store, Kurt went directly to the clearance racks and began to pull stuff out for Blaine. Kurt could hunt up amazing bargains almost anywhere. He began to hand Blaine stuff to try and Blaine took everything, without paying much attention. Kurt frowned at Blaine's inattention. Blaine usually liked to shop almost as much as Kurt, so he didn't know why Blaine seemed a million miles away.

Kurt took all the clothing back and stuck them all back on the racks then dragged Blaine out of the store.

"Okay, what's wrong?" Kurt asked him as soon as he had him sitting on a bench in the hallway.

"What do you mean?" Blaine asked back, finally seeming to come out of his reverie.

"I mean I was finding some great bargains in there and you didn't seem to even notice that I was handing you clothes," Kurt answered.

"Oh, I guess I'm just a little preoccupied at the moment," Blaine decided to blame everything on the missed Warbler concert. He didn't tell Kurt about the fact that he and Dave seemed to be headed in two different directions most of the time. He also didn't tell Kurt that he had been writing a song that he, Kurt, had inspired. Or that it seemed that Blaine was thinking about Kurt way more than Dave these days.

"Blaine, it's really too bad that you don't get to do your concert. I'm really sorry about that," Kurt said in reply to Blaine's excuse for why he seemed distracted. "You don't have to stick around if you don't feel like it. I can always catch up with the girls."

"Do you want me to go?" Blaine asked. He realized that Kurt had the potential to crush him if he said yes.

"Of course I don't!" Kurt replied quickly. He really didn't want Blaine to leave, but he didn't want him to be uncomfortable either.

"You know what I wish?" Blaine suddenly asked. Kurt cocked his head and made a listening noise. "I wish we could act like we used to when we first came shopping together back in high school. When there was no pressure on either of us and we were just here to have fun."

A slow smile spread across Kurt's face at that idea and suddenly he grabbed Blaine's hand and started to run. Kurt quickly decided that they would relive the first time they had ever come shopping together. The first thing they had ever done when they came to the mall together was Blaine's idea. And he had run through the mall, dragging Kurt with him, much the opposite of what was happening now. They arrived at the center of the mall and went immediately to the carousel.

Blaine laughed delightedly when he realized what Kurt had in mind. They bought tickets and found horses next to each other, just like they had that first day. They each climbed on their horse and then Kurt held out his hand for Blaine. Again, it was just like the first day, only in reverse. Blaine had held out his hand for Kurt and they held hands the whole time they were on the carousel. It was fun because when Blaine was up, Kurt was down and they sometimes had to struggle to keep each other's hand. They laughed just as much as they had in high school.

After the carousel ride, they both knew where they were headed next. They went to Sears and took turns making each other laugh as they picked out the most hideous things they could find to make into outfits. Some of the stuff would have been okay on its own (if Kurt would be caught dead wearing anything from Sears, which of course he wouldn't) but they made sure nothing matched and nothing was in fashion. They ended up pulling a lot of "old man" type clothes, and Kurt even pulled some old lady stuff.

The next thing they had done was got smoothies, just like when they were in high school. Blaine loved that Kurt had come up with this idea. He felt so free, just like he had back then. After they drank smoothies and spent time catching up with each other, they decided to do some actual shopping, just like they had done back then. They headed back to Hugo Boss and this time Blaine paid attention as Kurt handed him clothing. Kurt helped Blaine pull some nice sale items, while keeping his eyes peeled for his own closet. They both exited the store with a couple of bags, realizing that the afternoon had flown by and it was now time to meet the girls for the movie.

Neither of the boys were too excited to meet back up with the girls, but of course they had to. It was as if they had forgotten how much they enjoyed spending time just with each other. In all of the craziness of calling off the wedding and moving back to Lima and trying to avoid each other, but not really avoid each other, "Kurt and Blaine" had gotten lost. They had started off as the best of friends and had always been that whether they were together or not. Now realizing that they hadn't had that in so long made them both giddy with the fact that they had found it again, even if just for an afternoon.

When they arrived at the movie theater the real challenge began. Kurt wanted to see a comedy, but everything that was out was something one of them had already seen. They finally all settled on _The Maze Runner_ , though Kurt was only going along with it because it was the only movie that no one had seen besides _Box Trolls_ and no one wanted to waste money on a very stupid-looking cartoon.

Blaine was secretly thrilled that they were going to watch this movie. He didn't particularly care if he saw it, but he did know that it being somewhat of a thriller was not going to sit well with Kurt. And he knew how Kurt responded to movies that made him nervous or uncomfortable. As they waited in line for tickets, he let his mind wander back to one of the first movies that they had seen together as a couple.

Blaine had always wanted to see _Texas Chainsaw Massacre_ and it just happened to be showing at the dollar theater in Lima soon after they had become a couple. Blaine talked Kurt into going by promising that he would protect him from the big scary chainsaw wielding psycho. Kurt had really not wanted to see it, he really didn't like scary movies at all. He never really saw the point in movies that would give you nightmares for weeks on end. However, at the time, Blaine probably could have convinced him to do anything and he would have followed along. Kurt had underestimated how upset this particular movie would make him and he decided to distract himself. They had sat in the very back row of the theater and there were only a handful of other people there. They were behind everyone else. So even though Kurt had never initiated anything in the way of making out before, he leaned over and kissed Blaine. It hadn't been just a little peck, though. He had attached himself to Blaine's lips and was hungrily french kissing him. Blaine, while completely shocked at him, enthusiastically went along for the ride and completely forgot that he had wanted to watch a movie. With Kurt's tongue in his mouth, he basically forgot his own name. All he could think about was more of this. He kissed down to Kurt's neck and was busily sucking there, when he decided he needed to get into a better position. His hand had been resting on Kurt's leg, and when he went to move, he made contact with something hard. He would have thought that Kurt had a roll of candy in his pocket except that Kurt basically came off his seat and just managed to bite back a shocked screech. Blaine flew off of Kurt, back to his seat and was whispering apologies all over the place. They were both breathing heavy and both had to sit for several minutes and let things calm down between their legs before they were able to leave the theater, neither caring about the movie at all anymore. They had both apologized profusely to each other many times after and both admitted they were not ready for things to get that heated again for awhile. This was actually where the "no hands south of the equator" rule had come from.

While Blaine was thinking about that day, a silly little smile had been playing on his lips. He didn't expect things to go the way they had that day, but he figured he might get some cuddling out of this movie, all in the name of Kurt being uncomfortable of course. He figured he would just be providing the service he had always provided to Kurt, even when they had just been friends. By the time Blaine came out of his little mind sidetrack, they had progressed to the snack counter and Kurt was looking at him strangely. He realized Kurt must have asked him a question.

"So?" Kurt asked again. "Our usual?" Whenever Kurt and Blaine went to the movies they always split a popcorn and each got Reese's Pieces and diet sodas. They had agreed early on that it was the best movie going food combination of sweet and salty.

"Of course," Blaine answered, thrilled that they were going to be sharing popcorn. He knew he was taking his platonic day with Kurt in a direction he hadn't meant it to go, but he was really hoping to brush fingers with Kurt inside the popcorn bowl. His heart twinged at the idea of ending up holding hands with Kurt and cuddling him. He was ready to let the carefree portion of the day go and move on to something more intimate.

When they arrived in the theater, the set up could not have been better for Blaine's desires. They ended up in the theater with the reclining loveseats. Mercedes and Rachel had already claimed a loveseat to themselves, and saved one for Kurt and Blaine next to them. Blaine couldn't have planned it better if he had tried.

Kurt sat down gracefully, basically squishing himself against the arm of his side of the loveseat and set the massive bowl of popcorn in the middle. Blaine looked at him a little funny, but figured he would relax as soon as the movie got intense. Blaine plopped down in his seat and immediately reclined it all the way back. Eventually Kurt reclined his seat too, because they really weren't comfortable to sit in upright. He made sure the popcorn stayed balanced between them, and he made sure to stay on his side of the couch.

Blaine can honestly say that he has no idea what the movie was about because he was focused on the way Kurt was acting instead. Kurt sat primly and somewhat rigid throughout the entire movie. He made sure that their hands were never in the popcorn bowl at the same time and he never once strayed from his side of the couch. Blaine wasn't only disappointed, he was a little mad. He didn't see why Kurt was being so standoffish all of the sudden. They had been having a really fun day and all of the sudden Kurt seemed like he didn't want anything to do with Blaine. After the movie, Blaine made excuses that he had to get home right away and left without much explanation.

Kurt was really disappointed that Blaine had left in such a hurry. He was hoping they could talk some more. They had had a really great day together and it had been fun reconnecting as friends. What Blaine didn't know was that Kurt had wanted everything that Blaine did in the movie theater. He had wanted to cuddle up into Blaine's side. The problem was if he had done that, he was not sure he would have ever been able to pull away. He basically wanted to crawl inside of Blaine and stay there forever. He had also been sure to make sure that they were never really touching...even touching hands inside of the popcorn bowl. He was afraid if he had grabbed Blaine's hand he wouldn't have been able to let go. He knew that Blaine had wanted a simple day of how things used to be and he was more than willing to provide that. While, it had been easy to hold Blaine's hand to run around the mall, it was another thing altogether in this much more intimate setting. Things became real as Kurt, too, remembered some of the times they had seen movies together and how heated things could get. This movie-going experience had been pretty similar to the first time they had seen a movie together, before they had ever started dating. Back when Kurt was crushing so hard on Blaine it physically hurt. He had made sure not to touch Blaine at all that day either, for the same basic reasons that he had today. He had to admit he was a little hurt when Blaine hightailed it out of there. He and the girls parted ways in the parking lot and he went home happy about the day, but very disappointed about how it had ended.


	26. Chapter 26

A/N **Read for clarity:** In this chapter, we are going back and forth between Blaine's memories of the weekend and what is actually happening on Monday. To try and avoid too much confusion, the italicized words are his weekend memories, and the non-italicized words are what is happening right now. Enjoy! Let me know what you think!

* * *

Blaine could barely believe he was at McKinley on Monday morning after the crazy weekend he had had. He thought back over all of it as he was walking through the halls of his alma mater.

 _Saturday had been a blast until the movie. After Kurt had acted so weird at the movie theater, Blaine decided he just wanted to get home._

 _When Blaine walked in to the apartment, Dave was standing in the kitchen._

" _Where were you?" Dave asked. "I've left you like a half dozen texts."_

" _Oh, sorry, my phone died," Blaine responded. "I was at the mall," he went on, holding up his bags._

" _Oh, okay," Dave replied. "Were you there with anyone?"_

" _Yeah, Mercedes and Rachel invited me…and Kurt was there," Blaine had really considered leaving off that last bit, but he figured that would have been a lie of omission._

" _Kurt, huh?" Dave answered, looking less than pleased._

" _Yeah, we just hung out and shopped and then we all went to a movie together...Maze Runner," Blaine sort of felt like he was defending his actions and he wasn't sure why. Dave knew that he and Kurt were friends. He had been the one to encourage all of them to be friends with each other that very first day after all._

" _Yeah, okay," Dave replied. He had gotten ever closer to Blaine as Blaine had been talking. Blaine had been standing near the closed bedroom door and now his back was against it as Dave crowded into his space._

" _Hi," Dave whispered as he moved his head close to Blaine's, placing his hands on the door on either side of Blaine's head._

" _Hi," Blaine answered back a little louder and with a definite slightly uncomfortable smile on his face. The bags dropped soundlessly to the floor. He wasn't really sure what was happening right now. It had been awhile since Dave had tried anything like this. Dave leaned in and connected their lips and it was...nice. He asked Blaine to open up for him by running his tongue along Blaine's bottom lip. Blaine parted his lips and Dave licked into his mouth. They continued to deepen the kiss and Blaine felt himself letting go. This was what he needed. He wanted...he wanted so much._ God, Kurt, it's about time, he thought. _As Dave moved from his mouth along his jaw, Blaine briefly opened his eyes and about moaned out Kurt's name when he realized it wasn't Kurt at all who was kissing him. Seeing Dave there instead of Kurt was like an icy north blast straight to his heart._

" _Dave," Blaine panted out, because even though he wasn't ready to be doing this with Dave, he was still plenty turned on. "We need to slow down here and breathe for a minute."_

" _No we don't," Dave murmured into his neck. "We always breathe for a minute. We just need to act. You want this too, I can tell," Dave went on, beginning to undo the buttons on Blaine' shirt._

" _Dave, please stop," Blaine continued to try and put up a protest, though it was getting harder with Dave beginning to undress him. He should just let himself have this. Kurt clearly didn't want him and Dave was right here. That was ultimately the thought that had him pushing Dave away. Dave wasn't a consolation prize, and should not be treated as one. He had done that before with Eli and he was never again going to do that. He had made a promise to himself and to Dave, though Dave didn't really seem to care right now._

" _Damn it, Blaine!" Dave cursed out from the few feet away that he had been pushed by Blaine. "You need to dec-" Dave started to say. It was only when he saw the unshed tears in Blaine's eyes that he dropped the sentence, "You need to decide who you want to be with." Instead he did what he always did. He played the understanding boyfriend and gathered Blaine up into a hug. He was so afraid that Blaine was going to pick Kurt instead of him that he couldn't force the ultimatum out of his mouth. While Blaine was still here with him, he still had hope that things would go his way. After all, Blaine was allowing Dave to get a lot farther than he had had in a long while. Maybe his barriers were finally breaking down and he was going to let Dave in._

 _So instead of having the sex that Dave so desperately wanted, they ordered pizza and curled up in front of an early season hockey game. Neither of them were that into hockey, but most of time Dave was content to watch whatever sport was on television and Blaine was content to let Dave pick. He'd felt close to losing Dave today and he didn't want that. At least, he didn't think he did. He was more confused than ever._

Blaine paused by the "elevator" that Sue had put in and let the McKinley students shuffle around him as his thoughts continued on to Sunday.

 _When they found out Dalton would be closed and there would be no concert, Sam decided that Blaine and Dave should come over and watch college football on Sunday, to get Blaine's mind off of things._

 _Blaine and Dave had arrived for lunch. As they sat down on the couch, Dave put his arm around Blaine, and Blaine leaned into him. One of the best things about Dave, in Blaine's opinion, was that he was a very comfy person to cuddle with. And Blaine being so affectionate himself, it was definitely a part of their relationship that worked well._

 _Sam had gotten wings from a local take out place. There was a ridiculous amount of "football" type food crowding the coffee table in Sam's small apartment. There were chips and several different kinds of dips and cookies and candy. Blaine thought it looked like a heart attack waiting to happen, but he wasn't going to complain, even though there was nothing that looked remotely healthy._

" _Beers, gentlemen?" Sam asked Blaine, Dave, and Artie, who was also in attendance, as he came in with a six pack. Everyone accepted one and Sam set the other two on the table. Blaine thought that was a little weird as they were just going to get warm. Or maybe not, depending on how fast they drank. However, he would be stopping with one. From the first few times he had drank, he knew he had absolutely no tolerance for alcohol. He was here to have a good time, and in his opinion nothing positive ever came from him getting drunk._

" _Sam, man, this is an awful lot of food for the four of us," Blaine stated, unaware that anyone else was coming._

" _It isn't going to be just the four of us," Sam replied cryptically. At exactly that moment, Sam's doorbell rang and he went to get the door. "Hey guys!" Sam said enthusiastically to whomever was at the door. Because of the way Sam's apartment was situated, the unknown guests were around a corner right then. However, they were quickly ushered into the room and Blaine first saw Rachel, carrying a tray of veggies, and then Mercedes following with a tray of fruit. Leave it to the girls to make sure there were healthy items on the menu, Blaine thought. Just then Sam rounded the corner with his arm around Kurt who was carrying something in a bowl. Blaine felt Dave's arm tighten as he also noticed that Kurt was walking in._

" _Hey guys!" Rachel greeted the room, stopping to give Artie a half hug and setting her tray down on a side table, as the coffee table was already full. Everyone started greeting each other and Sam offered the last two beers to the girls. He had a glass of iced tea ready for Kurt as well._

" _Thanks, but I'm not staying, Sam," Kurt told him, refusing the glass of tea. Blaine had to hold in the urge to sigh in relief as Dave's arm loosened a little at that news._

" _Come on Kurt, just stay," Mercedes told him. Rachel and Sam chimed in with similar sentiments and Artie just looked back and forth between the speakers like he was watching a tennis match._

" _Um, hello-o" Kurt replied. "It's football. Not staying. I just came over to drop off some pasta salad and to make sure the girls brought something healthy so you all don't die of heart disease later on today." Having already handed the pasta salad over to Sam, Kurt turned around to leave._

" _But I need your help," Sam told Kurt. "Sue is considering letting the football team have new letterman jackets and I was hoping you could draw up some designs to give to the apparel company."_

" _What?" Kurt replied, though he looked interested. Blaine noticed that Dave's arm bristled again. "Sam, I would be happy to do that, but I can definitely do that at home and show whatever I come up with to you on Monday."_

" _I really want to be there while you are drawing so I can see it while it's happening and give feedback," Sam replied. Blaine was really getting irritated that Sam was pushing this. He wanted to tell Sam just to let Kurt leave, but he didn't want to hurt Kurt's feelings. However, three of six people in the room were very uncomfortable._

" _Um," Kurt replied. He really did not want to stick around and watch Blaine be all lovey-dovey with Karofsky. On the other hand, he hadn't designed anything in awhile, and it sounded like fun to be the one to come up with the new letter jackets. "Alright. I'll stick around just long enough to get something down on paper. And that is how Kurt and Sam ended up sitting at the dining table which was situated behind the couch, going over possible ideas for new letter jackets._

 _Kurt ended up working on the jackets until half-time. Every time he would show something to Sam, Sam would ask him to tweak it just a little bit and then Kurt ended up thinking of something that would look better here or there._

 _Over on the couch, Dave's expression was grim. Blaine glanced at him once or twice and felt really bad. He wasn't eating and hadn't even drunk much of his beer. Blaine knew he was terribly uncomfortable but he really couldn't do much about it. It hadn't been his idea to invite the girls or Kurt over. He thought they were going to have a relaxing afternoon with no stress. He was going to have to talk to Sam about boundaries when it came to his boyfriend hanging out with his ex-boyfriend._

 _Blaine really didn't blame Sam. Sam was an inclusive kind of guy. Of course he wanted as many of his friends around as possible. However, Kurt had never planned on staying and he should have let him leave. Once Kurt finally did leave, the mood of the afternoon had been effectively ruined and Dave never really did relax._

Blaine finally received a text message from Sam telling him what classroom they were supposed to meet in. He wandered in and took off his messenger bag as he noticed the other occupants in the room. Sam and Kurt were sitting in front of a group consisting of Mercedes, Kitty, and Artie. As he walked in Blaine heard Sam say:

"Uh, well I called you all here today because of Rachel."

"Seriously? I just finished mentoring that girl for, like, a week what could she possibly need now?" Mercedes chimed in. Sam and Kurt went on to explain that Rachel's dads sold their house and she was pretty freaked out by having to make the transition out of her childhood home. And even after Kitty asked if this was all really about Rachel or was Sam announcing a gender change, he asked them all to help him get her ready for this big life change. They hatched a plan to have one last _Rachel Berry House Party Disaster_ like they did when they were teens. At the mention of a party, Kitty lost her catty attitude and got on board. It was just a matter of setting everything up from then on. They decided to have everyone sing duets based on the duet that Blaine and Rachel sang at their very first Rachel Berry party, only this time they were all going to be a lot more sober, because of course now they were in charge of teenagers who would also be at the party.

Artie and Sam decided to come up with a fun way to pick couples to sing, while Blaine was tasked with finding out why she was so upset about this move. They told him to call the Lima Mental Health Clinic to ask about it. Though he thought that was a little over the top, the New Directions were known for their ridiculous schemes.

After the meeting, Blaine decided to hang out with Sam in the locker room, because he figured that would be the last place Kurt would be. Luckily he'd brought workout clothes and he decided to get some of his frustrations out on the punching bag.

* * *

Meanwhile, Kurt was in the choir room staring at the wheel that Artie and Sam had the audiovisual club fashion. He was absolutely shocked once again at how fast they were able to whip something together. He wondered if they had had it done and all they had to do was paint it. He seriously wondered if those kids ever attended class because it seemed like between the glee club, the musical, and the Cheerios, they were forever being pulled out of class to make props and sets. He just hoped the stereotype was true and that they were all really intelligent and maybe didn't need to go class. Although, thinking back on his own days, he realized that he was out of class a lot while he was at McKinley and it was a cake walk for him. Heck, half the teachers didn't even really know much about the subjects they were teaching when he went there.

He walked over to the wheel and felt it to see if they paint was dry. When he realized it was, he decided to give it a little spin to see if it worked. He pulled on it and it made a very satisfying whirring noise as it spun their names around. It finally came to a stop on Blaine's name and he almost choked. He spun it again with the same result. The third time he spun it it landed on Artie's name. He kept spinning and 8 times out of 10, he was able to make it land on or near Blaine's name. He decided this was fate and he would be singing a duet with Blaine. He only had to make sure that the wheel continued to land on Blaine's name or just before it. He could always help it along if it landed on Artie's name, but there would be no help for it if it went past. He practiced with the wheel for about twenty minutes. He figured out that his best bet was if he started his spin on Roderick's name, so hopefully that would come up early. Part of this was clearly going to have to be left up to chance, but now that he saw the possibility of this happening, he wanted it very badly.

* * *

Back in the locker room, Blaine was taking a much needed shower after taking out his aggressions on the punching bag for over an hour. He had pent up energy from not having sex with his boyfriend, as well as annoyed energy from the way things were going between him and Dave and Kurt. Dave was clearly not comfortable with him being around Kurt, but that wasn't too much of a problem considering he wasn't sure he was happy being around Kurt either. The only problem was, fate kept seeming to push them into each other's company...well fate and Sam.

When Sam had come over and saw Blaine beating the bag to a pulp (seriously if the bag had been an opponent, the person would have been unconscious) he asked if Blaine wanted to talk about it.

"Talk about what?" Blaine breathed out as he continued to pummel the bag.

"Whatever has you beating the stuffing out of my boxing bag," Sam answered with a smile.

"Nope," Blaine replied shortly and continued to dance around the bag a little, pretending to be weaving against an opponent.

"Alright, well if you change your mind, you know where to find me," Sam had replied and retreated to his office.

* * *

As it was almost time for Glee, Kurt decided to go in search of Sam because he was the mastermind behind this whole Rachel-plan, and he definitely needed to be there to direct traffic. He paused briefly before he pushed his way into the locker room. He still hated coming in here after all these years because it always made him remember one of the worst moments of his life. Luckily he had just found Blaine and Blaine had helped him through that whole mess. And now Blaine was dating the cause of it. Okay, he needed to stop those thoughts right away. He didn't want to go down that bitter road again.

He was headed to the office as he heard a very familiar voice singing a song he hadn't heard before. He immediately knew Blaine was in the shower and his heart twisted painfully. He wanted nothing more than to undress and join him and live out every gay guy's locker room fantasy. He did allow himself to walk around and catch a glimpse of Blaine in the shower. He couldn't see anything interesting, of course, but that wasn't the point. He just loved seeing Blaine having a good time with music again. It made him want to sing a duet with him that much more.

He headed back to find that Sam was just walking out of the office.

"Ready to do this?" he asked Sam.

"Yep, let me just grab Blaine and we will be in a few," Sam replied.

Once everyone was assembled in the choir room, Rachel started to tell everyone that they were going to do songs of the famous people from Ohio.

"Marilyn Manson and Dean Martin…" Rachel began to list off the famous singers from Ohio before Kurt cut in.

"Actually, Rachel, there's been a slight change in plans."

"Kurt, you can't just change the lesson like that," Rachel replied, looking none to pleased.

"Well, sometimes life throws you a curveball and you just gotta embrace it," Kurt replied, while he stood next to the white boards. He pushed the top one out of the way to reveal this week's lesson. "That's why this week's lesson is transitioning! Changing! Charging forward," he continued as he literally did a little jump forward. He was pretty sure he saw Spencer whisper the word "gay" at Jane during that, but he didn't care. "Rachel, it's come to our attention that you're having some challenges saying goodbye to your childhood home."

Blaine broke in by bringing a chair over for Rachel to sit in and said his part, "Which is forcing you to say goodbye to your childhood...and fully accept adulthood. At least that's according to the very nice lady from the Lima Mental Health Clinic."

"So...to help Rachel with this new transition, we are throwing her a "farewell to Rachel's house" party!" Sam went on. "And everyone's invited. It's going to be Friday night in Rachel's basement." Most of the room looked excited for the party.

"You guys this is very unnecessary, but very sweet," Rachel replied.

"Wait so this lesson isn't for us?" Madison said in a clipped tone.

"It's for Rachel?" Mason continued, more confused than upset.

"Yeah, so shut up," Kitty replied, effectively cutting them off. She was clearly in charge of all the Cheerios in the room.

"Fetch me my wheel!" Artie called out in a circus barker voice. "Thank you!" He said to the guys as they pulled the wheel over. "Welcome to Wheel of Musical Fortune!" Artie continued to do his routine. Everyone clapped, as if they were in an audience. _Over the top as per usual_ , Blaine thought again. "Everyone spins and whoever's name you land on you have to sing a duet with them at the party."

"All except for me cuz I want to sing with Rachel, I don't want to chance it," Sam mumbled into Artie's ear.

"Fine, whatever" Artie replied.

"Can't we just pick names out of hat," Spencer asked, earning him a less-than-pleased look from Artie.

"Okay, I'll go first," Mercedes said, breaking the tension. "Luck be a lady tonight," she yelled as she spun. The wheel landed on Roderick's name, which was absolutely perfect for Kurt. There was a little more confusion and tension as it became clear that Mercedes didn't really know who that was. As she found out and told him he was great, Kurt butt right in to spin the wheel, not going to miss his chance.

"Okay my turn!" Kurt yelled enthusiastically. This was exactly the set up he needed. He just had to make sure it landed on Blaine. He carefully spun the wheel, trying to match what he had been doing before. He spun a little too weakly in his nervousness to get it right and the last click landed on Artie. As people (Blaine) were distracted looking at Artie, he was able to click the wheel one more time.

"Oh! Huh" he said, trying to sound surprised and looking at Blaine.

When Blaine looked back at the wheel, he flushed red. He was pretty sure Kurt had to have done that. He couldn't concentrate for the rest of the spins and stared at the chair in front of him. He wondered what Kurt could be thinking. Maybe he did cheat, or maybe it was all just part of the same cosmic joke that seemed to be throwing them together. As soon as everyone was done, he grabbed his bag and flew out of the room, shaking his head. He was tired of the hot and cold game that Kurt seemed to be playing. The more he thought about it, the more he was pretty sure that Kurt had moved the wheel himself.

"Oh, I thought for sure that wheel was going to land on Artie's name," he heard Kurt saying behind him. Kurt moved up to join him in the hall. Blaine had to admit that even now, having convinced himself that Kurt had cheated, a little thrill ran up his spine, just hearing Kurt's voice directed at him.

"Yeah, what are the odds?" Blaine asked, making it clear that he knew Kurt cheated.

"Eh, ten to one, not that high," Kurt replied, lying easily. After all, he had committed to this plan much earlier. "Oh but you're totally cool singing with me, right? I-I understand if not," Kurt continued. He knew he wouldn't really be happy if Blaine refused, but he didn't want to take the choice away from him.

"Yeah, no I really want to it's just…if you see Dave, just don't bring it up, okay?"

"Oh come on...it's just a song," Kurt complained back. "He can't be jealous of that."

"I know, but I think that he thinks that there's still something between us…" Blaine replied, knowing full well that Dave would not appreciate this at all. "Which there obviously...isn't," Blaine added, more to see what Kurt would say, almost hoping he would deny it and say that there was something there so the stupid game of cat and mouse they were playing would be over.

"Obviously," Kurt replied with a weird look on his face instead. Blaine couldn't really read the look. It was like he was trying to deny it and agree with it at the same time. Blaine squinted his eyes a bit, trying to get a handle on what Kurt was saying to him nonverbally.

When Blaine couldn't figure it out, he said, "Anyway, I'll call you and we can figure out what we're doing. We can sing something up tempo," he went on, thinking it might be best to avoid love ballads. He quickly realized that sounded awfully obvious and added, "Or...or slow, it doesn't matter. I'm versatile." He almost cringed at himself with that last bit. Obviously Kurt of all people knew his musical range. With that, he decided he'd made enough of a fool of himself and quickly hugged Kurt and left, saying, "I'll call you."

If he had stayed for a moment, he would have caught the shocked look on Kurt's face at the hug and he _really_ wouldn't have known what to make of that! Maybe it would have made him realized that Kurt was just as confused by the whole situation and they could have talked about it. As it was, that did not happen.


	27. Chapter 27

I FINALLY got some time to finish this chapter. I hope some of you are still hanging in with me. This story WILL be finished. I promise. Let me know with a comment if you are still hanging in there. Sorry it took forever again!

* * *

Kurt made his way down the halls of Dalton, at just after 6 PM Wednesday evening. He had agreed to meet Blaine at Dalton for a change, because he knew Blaine was trying to make up for lost time with the Warblers. They were having late practices after dinner every evening to work on their set list for the their upcoming sectionals. The New Directions and the Warblers were not competing with each other at Sectionals, but Kurt knew he didn't want to be accused of spying. There was every likelihood that they would be meeting at Regionals.

Kurt was about an hour early. He hadn't meant to be, it's just that after glee practice, he saw no real reason to hang around Lima, so he headed out. He knew the Warblers wouldn't be done rehearsing until at least seven, per Blaine, so he found himself wandering around aimlessly. He happened into his old favorite study room. He would always be in that particular room, when he had time to kill before or after Warbler rehearsal. Since he didn't board, he'd had to find a spot to hang out in that was relatively quiet. It was completely quiet right now, as all the boys were probably either finishing dinner, in their dorms, or had gone home for the day.

He wandered over to the table where he'd done most of his studying. It was at this very table that Blaine had found him reading about Charlamagne, what felt like a million years ago. When Kurt looked back on pictures of that time, he couldn't believe how much they both looked like baby versions of themselves. Blaine, with his close cropped haircut that didn't require nearly as much gel to keep it in place, and Kurt with bangs and rosy round cheeks, instead of the quiff and high bone structured face that he'd grown into.

In some ways, Kurt wished he could go back to that time. It was sweet torture not knowing if Blaine liked him back, but everything was so simple. There was an incredibly sweet innocence to the friendship they had formed then. There were, of course, romantic overtones to the whole thing, but the romance was simple. It was "Does he like me? Does the fact that he grabbed my hand mean anything?"

Kurt wistfully watches a young Blaine chase a young Kurt around the room singing "Baby It's Cold Outside," in his mind. How Kurt had just wanted Blaine to stop singing and kiss him that day. There were several moments when he thought exactly that was going to happen, especially when they ended the song. He hadn't, of course. Blaine had taken much longer to get to where Kurt wanted him to be. Once he was there, he never really wasn't there again. He made a bunch of mistakes, of course, first with Sebastian, and then with Eli. Then in New York, he'd gone a little off the deep end with eating and then subsequently dieting. It was through all of their problems that Kurt realized that, while back when they met Blaine had presented himself as this world-knowledgeable guy, really Blaine was the innocent one in their relationship. He was the one who believed more in romance and happily-ever-after.

Kurt knew that the fighting in New York wasn't good for Blaine. He'd wanted to save both of their hearts by taking a step back. He knew now that he never meant for them not to be together. They belonged together. Kurt belonged taking care of Blaine's soft and tender heart, and Blaine belonged loving Kurt in a way that no one else would ever be able to because from the moment Kurt had saw him, he belonged to Blaine. It didn't matter that they were young. They could have met when they were five and Kurt would have known it. This had to happen. They had to get back together. Because while Blaine might be able to pick himself up and move on, Kurt knew that he never would. He would never move on from the love of his life.

Kurt realized while he had been having this trip down memory lane, and subsequent maudlin thoughts, that quite a lot of time had passed and now he was actually a little late for meeting with Blaine. He gave himself several moments to calm down from the worry that maybe they wouldn't get back together. The fear was always there, but he had to keep hoping, just like his dad had told him. With that hope in his heart, he made his way down to the choir room.

Blaine was sitting at the piano, lazily playing something that was probably a famous concerto from Beethoven or Mozart when Kurt walked in and leaned in the doorway. He would never get over how effortlessly talented Blaine seemed to be. In reality, Kurt knew how much hard work and dedication went into Blaine being able to make even the most intricate playing look completely effortless. Kurt was pretty sure he could stand in this doorway and listen to Blaine play all evening. But that wouldn't be productive. So he finally moved into the room and said, "Hey."

"Hey!" Blaine returned with a smile, "there you are. I was starting to wonder if you'd forgotten." Kurt made sure to keep his face passive but thought _as if that was even a possibility!_

"Actually I was here early," Kurt replied. "I didn't want to be accused of spying, though, so I was just wandering around. Dalton doesn't really change at all, does it?" he continued, trying to cover up suddenly feeling awkward with Blaine looking at him.

"No, not really at all," Blaine said with a laugh as he stood up from the piano bench and pulled together a bunch of sheet music, turning to business right away, to try and avoid the awkwardness. "I haven't really had time to stop by the sheet music store this week, but I did raid our music cabinet here and pulled out some stuff that I thought would work for our duet. Kurt walked over and glanced at some of the titles. Most of it was upbeat, like Blaine wanted, but it was a lot of stuff they had already sung together. Kurt wanted to put in some practice time, because he wanted to be around Blaine.

"Um, I actually have had time to make it to the music store," Kurt replied. "I heard this song on the radio a couple weeks ago and thought it was really fun. I bought the music and also brought my ipod so I could play it for you...if you want. O-Otherwise, I am good with whatever…" he trailed off.

"No, of course we should listen to whatever you brought," Blaine replied with an encouraging smile. With that, Kurt played Blaine the cutest song. It was upbeat and...yes, it could be construed to be about love. It was actually called "Somebody Loves You." But mostly it seemed like a song about an amazing friendship and of course Blaine realized that whatever else they were, at the core of it was an amazing friendship. He decided that Kurt had hit the nail on the head with this song and they started working it out immediately. As always, when Blaine had a music project to focus on, time just slipped away. He didn't really pay much attention to the words anymore as they worked out who would sing what, when, and the harmonies for when they would sing together. Kurt realized again that this is what Blaine is really meant to do. Hopefully he would have his starring roles on Broadway, but ultimately Blaine was going to be known for his amazing composition work. He would definitely be writing the scores to Broadway musicals eventually.

After they worked all the music out, they sang through the song a few times together. They sounded amazing, as per usual. Finally, after the third run-through, Blaine glanced at his phone and saw that it was already 9:30. As they both had to drive the thirty minutes back to Lima, he realized that they had no choice but to get going. They both had to work in the morning, and Dave had texted him three times asking when he would be home.

"We should get going," Blaine told Kurt, with definite regret in his voice. It was fun to be around Kurt, to work on something together. It felt like the distance that had grown between them had dissipated again, much like at the mall.

"Yeah," Kurt reluctantly agreed, glancing at the time on his watch. He really didn't want to leave. He wanted to suggest to Blaine that they grab some food and talk, but he knew that would be a really bad idea. He knew Blaine wouldn't be up for it, just from the way the mood had changed once he'd glanced at this phone. Kurt figured Karofsky was probably wondering where he was.

"Well, this was a lot of fun," Kurt finally continued with a smile. "Friday night should be a good time." They had gathered up their things and were walking together towards the parking lot and their cars.

"Yeah," Blaine replied. "It'll be fun to see what everyone else has come up with." Blaine liked the idea of just being around these guys and singing for fun, no pressure or competition. It was hard being the lead of one of the rival teams to your friends. Blaine remembered how Kurt had asked him to join New Directions way back when for just that reason. He didn't want them to be on opposing teams because it would be hard. Ultimately they had decided that what would be harder would be being apart that year and Blaine had gladly transferred. Now he realized that if Kurt hadn't convinced him to do that, he would have had quite a different life. Those two short years had shaped so much of Blaine's life, from eventually asking for Kurt's hand in marriage to finding his best friend in the whole world, Sam. And, of course, getting close to all the other New Directions.

"Well, I guess I'll see you Friday," Kurt said, pulling Blaine out of his reverie.

"Oh! Yes, of course," Blaine replied. He hadn't even realized that they had made it to their cars.

He was a little bummed that he hadn't used the time to talk to Kurt, but he wasn't going to get a do-over, so he would just have to be satisfied that they would see each other at the party.

Friday arrived very quickly for Blaine. He had stayed at Dalton from early in the morning until around 9 on Thursday again. After spending all his waking hours at Dalton for three straight days, Dave had asked that he be home for supper on Friday night, before he went to Rachel's party. Dave was fairly non-plussed that on the first evening they had to spend together in days, Blaine was choosing to do something with his old glee club...not even the one he was coaching, but the competition. Dave had asked that they spend the rest of the weekend together, starting with Blaine going to his intermural football league game with him. Blaine had agreed and managed to keep the cringe off his face when Dave said they would have to leave at 5AM to get there in time. He knew that he owed Dave, _his actual boyfriend,_ some time. He hadn't told Dave about meeting up with Kurt on Wednesday night to practice singing. Nothing shady had happened, but still. He knew Dave would be very upset if he had known that he and Kurt had been extremely alone together. At that time of the evening, Dalton's main building had been all but deserted.

Blaine arrived home at 4 on Friday to make sure he had plenty of time to make a nice pasta meal for Dave when he arrived home. Kurt had texted him to see if he wanted to get together before the party to go over the song one more time with the music. Blaine had used a synthesizer to make accompaniment music for their song. Blaine had sent the final version over to the McKinley Jazz Band, who was providing the music. Blaine would have liked to practice with Kurt one more time, just for musicality's sake (or at least that is what he allowed himself to believe) but he had to decline so he could have dinner with Dave.

Dave arrived home a little late, so the meal was a little rushed, as Blaine had to be at the party at seven. Blaine could tell that Dave was trying not to be upset that Blaine was leaving so he promised he would leave the party by 9:30 so they could get a decent night's sleep before the very early morning the next day. That seemed to appease Dave and Blaine left for the party. He walked the short distance to Rachel's house from their apartment. He didn't plan on drinking much, as that would have dire consequences on his early wake up call, but he didn't want to drive just in case he did have a drink.

Blaine made his way to Rachel's basement, where the party was already getting started. Artie, Mercedes, and Sam were all standing together near the bottom of the steps and they all greeted him warmly. The new kids were all huddled around the stage, goofing off with a karaoke machine and Rachel and Kurt were sitting together, apparently deep in conversation.

"We were just discussing the very first Rachel house-party-train-wreck-extravaganza," Mercedes told Blaine with a laugh. Blaine blushed bright red, knowing exactly what they were about to bring up.

"Yes, that was a very interesting party for you, Blaine," Artie added, laughing.

"Come on, guys, I was sixteen," Blaine countered. He couldn't help letting his vision wander over to where Rachel and Kurt were sitting together. From what he could remember of that night, it had been extremely fun. It was the first time he ever sang with Rachel, the consequences being that he also thought he and Rachel could be a thing. It was his one week of ever believing that he might be bisexual. Luckily for him, it was also Rachel who cleared that question up for him.

Trying to distract from continuing this embarrassing line of conversation, Blaine asked, "Can we get this thing going? I don't have very long."

The party got in full swing then and soon Artie was announcing the first duet. Mercedes and Roderick killed it as the opening act, singing "All About That Bass." During that number, Blaine noticed Sam and Rachel skulking off. He was really wondering what was going on there, but he was soon distracted by more duets. Everyone was singing happy, upbeat music, most likely to keep Rachel from being sad. Of course the fact that she wasn't even there to hear it was irrelevant at this point. The time passed very quickly for Blaine, and all the sudden it was his and Kurt's turn to sing.

They took the stage as Artie introduced them as "everyone's two favorite gays." Blaine didn't have time to dwell on that being sort of insulting because their music was already starting. They didn't really have much choreography to go with their song. It didn't matter at all. Blaine and Kurt were as natural at singing with each other as any duo ever had been. For the first time, Blaine really caught the romantic overtones to the song. He found that he was having a hard time keeping his eyes off Kurt, who was dressed to kill in a black patterned shirt and a white vest. He tried to keep his mind safely blank while they were singing, but his heart was doing weird things inside his chest and he felt so drawn in by Kurt. Luckily, he was able to remain professional and sing the song anyway. Kurt went from hot to dorky hot as someone thrust a cartoonish looking spaceman's helmet at him, which he put on. Everyone was dancing around with costumes. Blaine had been given a yellow feather boa. Kurt had a blue one and eventually used it to give Blaine a hug, which made his heartbeat speed up even more than the natural high of singing. After that, they did some spinning with the girls which made them collide together a little bit. They both had to resist the urge to just grab on to each other.

Kurt had been mostly focused on singing, but when the two of them leaned in to hug briefly, his heart started to race. He wanted so badly just to be _this_ again. It was so amazing to be Kurt and Blaine again for just a few moments, that he didn't want to lose it again. Kurt had been sitting with Rachel telling her how much he had enjoyed going to Dalton and getting to be around Blaine without feeling like everything was all messed up. He felt it all again as they were singing together. They left the stage and went down to the dance floor and were just jumping around together having a good time. He felt like the years were melting away and for just a few moments, they were getting to be the old versions of themselves that he had remembered at Dalton. As soon as the song was over, all the good vibes came crashing down as Blaine started making his excuses and telling everyone he had to go. Kurt decided to walk Blaine out, to try and get a little bit more of the special feeling before they became distant again. As they were walking out the door, Kurt asked, "Are you sure you have to go? It doesn't sound like we're done in there?" He was keeping the mood light, so that he didn't just haul off and kiss Blaine, which is what his heart was telling him to do.

"I wish I could but Dave and I, we have to wake up at five a.m. sharp for his intermural football game in Bowling Green," Blaine replied, trying to keep the regret at having to leave out of his voice.

"Well, anyway, I had a lot of fun singing with you tonight," Kurt answered, not giving away that his heart was breaking a little bit at the mention of Blaine's boyfriend. "I thought we sounded pretty good."

"I thought we sounded incredible," Blaine answered with sincerity. "We haven't sounded that good since our very first duet. Do you remember what it was?"

"No, I'm blanking," Kurt replied, but then was faced with the trademark Blaine Anderson sad puppy face. He laughed a little and said, "I'm kidding, of course I do, it was _Baby, It's Cold Outside_." He couldn't stop himself from adding, "The entire time we were singing, I just wanted to turn off that damn bomb box and confess my undying love for you and give you the world's most passionate kiss." _Woah, rein it in, Kurt_ , he thought to himself. _No need to tell him exactly what you are thinking right now._

"Oh yeah, well why didn't you?" Blaine countered, seemingly sticking with the light banter. _Do it now_ , is what he was really thinking.

"Because I wasn't sure if you felt the same way," Kurt replied. He wasn't sure if they were actually talking about now or then anymore. But he had to add on so that he didn't get lost in the moment, "And you didn't...remember that guy you had a crush on, the assistant manager to the gap. What was his name...Jonathan or-or Jebidiah?"

"Jer-Jeremiah…" Blaine came up with. What were they doing talking about that tool from his past? _Kiss me now_ , kept running through Blaine's head on a loop.

"Jeremiah," Kurt agreed. "Yeah, whatever happened to him?"

"I have no clue," Blaine countered shaking his head, still wondering why they were talking about that.

"It's funny how someone can mean so much to you at one point in time, and then a few years go by and…" Blaine couldn't take it anymore. If Kurt wasn't going to kiss him, he would have to do the deed. He leaned in and pressed his lips to Kurt's and got that instant home feeling again, even while all the blood seemed to leave his head towards other body parts. It wasn't until he broke the kiss that he realized the insanity and wrongness of what he had done, and he had to get out of there immediately.

Kurt watched Blaine rush away. He was a little dazed by what just happened. He hadn't expected that at all, but it had been just what he needed to realize that this could still turn out the way he wanted.

Blaine berated himself all the way home for doing it again. He swore that he would never cheat after Eli, but once again, his body acted before his head could catch up. He was never going to be able to forgive himself. The rest of the weekend passed in a blur for Blaine. He spent most of his time trying to forget what he did. Trying to forget was not helping and Dave noticed pretty quickly that he seemed a million miles away. Dave chalked it up to worry about work and tried to enjoy the weekend anyway.


End file.
